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THE 



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iLLiAM Henry Hotel 



Lake George, Warren Co., N. Y. 




T. ROESSLE & SON, Proprietors. 



A1.SO PKOPEIETORS OF 



THE AMLIWGTOW, 
THE JDELA VAN, 



Washington'^ JD. €, 



SEASON, FROM JUNE 1 TO OCTOBER 1. 



During the past winter the house has been thoroughly overhauled 
and several important additions have been made, prominent among which 
may be mentioned, a new dining-room, giving a facility for dining com- 
fortably one thousand guests. Through cars are now run daily from 

Grand Central Depot to Fort William Henry Hotel without change. 

0) 




The American Fall— ^^^hitney. 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



%aT ^0alil|, yi^asure, anb l^^craalinii. 



WHERE TO GO AND HOW TO GET THERE. 



CONCERNING THE SUMMER AND WINTER RESORTS IN THE UNITED 
STATES AND CANADA, FROM SEA-SHORE TO MOUNTAIN AND GLEN, 
AND FROM THE GROVES OF SUNNY FLORIDA TO THE 
LAKES AND PARKS OF THE NORTH AND WEST, 
WITH THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH, 
THEIR LEADING ATTRACTIONS, HO- 
TEL ACCOMMODATIONS, LO- 
CATION, MEANS OF AP- 
PROACH, RAIL WA Y 
FARES, ETC. 



With nearly One Hundred and Fit^ Illustrations. 



Edited by LOUIS M. BABCOCK. 



Copyright 1883. — All rights reserved. 



FIRST EDITION, /<^' ^'''!1"''''' "^ '^ 



WASHINGTON, D. C. : 

NATIONAL NEWS BUREAU. 

1883. 



PREFACE. 






"k 



'^^\ 



y. 



THE work of planning, gathering materials for and preparing this 
edition of Our American Resorts was not begun until late in the 
season, or about the time it should have been ready for the press. It 
has, therefore, been hurriedly done. Of its shortcomings and imper- 
fections the editor is quite as well aware as will be its severest critics. 
The difficulties encountered in the preparation of such a work are 
multitudinous, not the least of which is the tardiness and lack of en- 
terprise among those whose interest it is to have information concerning 
themselves widely disseminated. For this unbusiness-like backward- 
ness, the many worthless and dishonest publications through which they 
have been annoyed and defrauded are, no doubt, largely responsible. 
But this, added to the great difficulty in reaching proprietors of resorts 
at a season when they are not open, has rendered any approach to 
completeness in the present issue impossible. Still, the work as it is 
compares favorably with any of its class heretofore published, and ul- 
timately it shall be vastly superior to them all. 

Nothing like a Directory has been attempted. A work of that char- 
acter sufficiently complete to embrace all the nooks and hamlets that 
consider themselves resorts would require more than a thousand pages 
of closely-condensed matter, involve interminable labor, and possess 
no special interest when issued. In these pages an effort has been 
made to present in readable form — with numerous illustrations for 
embellishment and aid — correct impressions of the important resorts 
and natural wonders within the borders of our own land, including 
something concerning the characteristics and climates of the localities 
in which they are situated. The work therefore, without being strictly 
either a Guide, Gazetteer or Handbook, contains much information 
pertaining to the realm of travel for health or sight-seeing. 
On the first of May next a thoroughly revised edition 
"|l will be issued, containing all that is worth gathering to 
complete the work, with over one hundred additional illus- 
trations, many of them from new and original sketches, 
engraved by the best artists. The aim will be to embrace 
not only all places worthy of note, but to incorporate the 
fullest details concerning them, their accommodations, and 
the various routes of travel. A table of railway and 
steamboat fares between resorts named and the principal 
cities will also be added. Meanwhile 
correspondence is solicited with all 
who may be interested. 

Washington, D. C, June ist, 1883. 



^ 







CONTENTS. 



THE CITY OF WASHINGTON, 

The Capital as a Resort— Its Location and Plan — The Beauty of the Streets, Avenues, and Parks 
— The Capitol and other Public Buildings — The Suburbs": Soldiers' Home, Arlington, Cabin 
John's Bridge, Great Falls, Rock Creek — Mount Vernon. 

VIRGINIA RESORTS, 

Characteristics of the Mountain Scenery — Beauties of the Rivers, Mountains, Streams, and 
Waterfalls — Mineral Springs — Along the Chesapeake and Ohio, Virginia Midland, and 
Shenandoah Valley Railroads. 

Coynkr's Springs, 

FlNCASTI.E 

Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, 

Mountain Lake, 

Old Point Comfort, .... 



PENNSYLVANIA RESORTS, . 

Features of Pennsylvania Scenery — Mountain, Valley, Forest, and River most Picturesquely 
Blended — Excellence of the Farms — Resorts along the great Pennsylvania Railroad — 
The Valley of the Schuylkill and Reading Railroad. 

Altoona, . 

Bedford Springs, 

Cresson Springs, . . . " 

Delaware Water Gap, 

Kane, ' 

Renovo, 



OUR NATURAL WONDERS, . 

The Yellowstone National Park, 



The "Wonder-land" of the World — The Geysers — The Falls and Grand Canyon — Tower 
Creek and Falls — Yellowstone Lake — " Devil's Den " — Hot Springs of Gardiner's River 
— The Great Attractions of the Yellowstone Park — Drawbacks to, and Facilities afforded 
for, visiting the Park. 



Niagara Falls, 
Caverns of Luray, 
Watkins' Glen, . 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS, 

Colorado, 

The River Canyons — Extent of Mountain Scenery — The Parks — Denver — Colorado Springs — 
Manitou — Garden of the Gods — Idaho Springs — Georgetown — Green Lake — Gray's Peak — 
The Climate. 

California, 

The Yosemite Valley — Lake Tahoe — Donner Lake— The Big Trees — The Geysers. 

The Catskills, 

Beauty of Scenery — Haines's Falls — Kaaterskill Clove — Overlook Mountain — Nooks and By- 
ways — Means of Access. 

Adirondacks 

Extent of Mountains and Uniformity of Height — The Numerous Lakes — Different Routes 
through the Wilderness — A Paradise for Sportsmen. 

The White Mountains, 

Characteristics of the Mountains, Valleys, Glens, and Rivers — From North Conway to Berlin 
Falls — From North Conway to Lancaster— Scenery and Points of Interest along the Routes 
— The Presidential Range-^Mount Washington— Bethlehem — The Franconia Group. 

(v; 



PAGE 

9 



IS 



23 
25 



30 
31 
33 
35 
37 
39 

40 

41 



47 

54 

57 

57 



71 

79 



89 



CON J EN TS. 



MINERAL SPRINGS RESORTS, 

Saratoga, ....... 

White Sulphur Springs, VV. Va., 

Hot Springs, Ark., 

The Great Spirit Spring, Kan., 
Waukesh.\ Springs, Wis 

HEALTH RESORTS OF THE SOUTH, 

Climate and Characteristics of Florida — Jacksonville — Green Cove Springs — Wakulla Springs — 
South Carolina Resorts: Aiken, Charleston — Northern Georgia and Western North Caro- 
lina: Asheville — Scenery. 



96 
96 

98 
98 

99 
100 

103 



LAKES AND RIVERS, . 

The Five Great Lakes of the North^Pictured Rocks of Lake Superior — Beauty of Lake Michi- 
gan — Straits and Island of Mackinaw — Lake Huron — Lake Erie — Incidents connected with 
our National and Colonial History — Lake Ontario — Summer Resorts on the Shores of the 
Lakes. 

Lake Geneva, Wis., 
Lake George, N. Y., 
Otsego Lake, N. Y., 
Lake Winnepesaukee, N. H 
Lake Memphremagog, V't., 
MoosEHEAD Lake, Me., . 
Lake Champlain, N. Y., 
Chautauqua Lake, N. Y., 
Greenwood Lake, N. Y., 
Devil's Lake, Wis., 
Lake Minnetonka, Minn., 
Devil's Lake, Dak., 
The Great Rivers, 

Scenery of the Hudson — The Upper Mississippi and the Dells- of the Wisconsin — The Thousand 

Islands and Rapids of the St. Lawrence — Montreal and Quebec — The Wonderful River 

Saguenay. 

Trenton Falls, N. Y., 

SEASHORE RESORTS, 
Atlantic City, 
Cape May, 
Long Branch, 

Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, 
Newport, .... 
Narragansett Pier, 
Martha's Vineyard, 
Nantucket, .... 
Bass Rocks, .... 
From Cape Ann to Cape Cod, 

Boston — Chelsea — Nahant^Swampscott — Marblehead — Rockport — Pigeon Cove — " Down the 
Harbor " — Downer Landing — Melville Garden — Nantasket — Cohassett — Plymouth — Along 
the Cape to Provincetown. 

Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Me., 

Isles of Shoals, N. H., 

Railway Announcements, Hotel and other Cards, 151 to 



n6 



117 
119 
120 
121 

121 
122 
124 
125 
126 
127 
128 
129 
129 



137 

140 
141 
142 
144 
144 

146 
146 

147 

147 



149 
168 



WEE ^musmE. 




U M M E R recreation has come to be a recognized necessity. 
Rest, change, and relaxation are natural requirements of the 
human system, and especially of the dwellers in cities, whose 
lives partake so much of the artificial, and who are so far re- 
moved, as it were, from nature and the influences of outdoor 
freedom. Hercules could not, at first, conquer Antaeus — the 
son of earth and sea — because each time the giant was thrown 
he gained new strength from mother earth. The parallel is 
easily drawn. As the human mind and body need sleep, 
«^ as they should have one day in seven for rest, so do they 
require each year a period during which they may escape 
from the toil and vexations of business, the wear, and 
grind, and the routine of usual avocations, and gain new 
vigor by simple contact with nature, breathing the air, 
using the diet, seeing the sights, and hearing the sounds 
of the country. Cowper expresses a homely truth in his lines : 

" God made the country and man made the town ; 
What wonder, then, that health and virtue, gifts 
That can alone make sweet the bitter draught 
That life holds out to all, should most abound 
And least he threatened in the fields and groves?" 

In this age the feverish excitement of speculation, the sharp competition in business, and 
the close application and incessant activity of professional and business men, with high rates 
of living and social dissipations, all combine to break down health in our cities and render a 
season of recuperation doubly necessary. It is not, therefore, for mere idle pleasure and 
sight-seeing alone that such a large proportion of city people now annually spend a part of 
the heated term away from home — in the mountains, at the springs, or the sea-shore, — and 
that the number is increasing year by year. And at this season, when the first warm days 
foreshadow the warmer ones to come, the preparations for vacation begin — the casting about 
for a- place to go occupies attention. It is the time when 

" The bleating lambs, of tender age. 
■ Frisk gayly o'er the lawn. 
The sweatful farmer smites his mules 

And ploughs the growing corn. 
The city cousins pack their trunks 

And'coo their softest coo. 
Dear Uncle — We'll be down next week 
And bring the children, too." 

(vii) 



viii PROLOGUE. 

It is a good thing that in this world of ours a means of supply is provided for every real 
need; that as the seasons roll round with their ceaseless changes the genius of man is con- 
stantly devising ways of meeting and filling the requirements of the day and hour, thus 
making not only the waste places of the earth but of men's souls "blossom as the rose." 
With the increase of demand there is an increase of inducements, and every year new- 
attractions are developed, new beauties and new wonders discovered. There are summer 
resorts and summer resorts ; places where the curious and vain may see and be seen, where 
nature in its loveliest and grandest aspects maybe studied, or where tired humanity may 
refresh itself according to its bent. The great variety is only equalled by the vastly differing 
tastes and requirements. And as inclinations diverge one year, so will the same individuals 
recognize in themselves changed conditions and needs for the next. In this, as in all things, 
variety is the spice of life. 

" Of all the passions that possess mankind, 
The love of novelty rules most the mind ; 

In search of this, from realm to realm we roam, * 

Our fleets come fraught with ev'ry folly home." 

Yet changing and changeful mankind, with many pleasures to choose, can sometimes find 
delight in none. Among those- who have naught to seek but enjoyment, that is not infre- 
quently found the most tiresome of all occupations, for satiety is a stubborn disease. Often 
the things which were erstwliile our pleasure to-day pall upon the taste ; and a quotation from 
one of Pope's moral essays well depicts the humor of many who seek places of resort: 

" Papillia, wedded to her amorous spark, 
Sighs for the shades — ' how charming is a park I' 
A park is purchased, but the fair he sees 
All bathed in tears — O, odious, odious trees." 

But withal, summer resorts are a blessing to the race, and sick or well, rich or poor, all 
derive increase of years with increase of happiness from the days or weeks spent in rational 
recreation. In the succeeding pages are described many places of real interest, anv of which 
will amply repay a visit, either for health or pleasure. 




Whe GibY of Waghingfeon 



" Sun of the moral w orld ! (.ffulgent source 
Of man's best wisdom and his steadiest force, 
Soul-searching Freedom ! here assume thy stand, 
And radiate hence to every distant land." 

T is certainly appropriate that a work on American Resorts emanating from the 
National Capital, should begin with something concerning the attractions of a city 
in which all Americans are interested, and to which thousands of tourists and sight- 
seers journey every month in the year. Washington is sought and visited by people 
from every section, at all seasons, not alone because it is the nation's capital, but also 
for the reason that it is the most beautiful and attractive of American cities, its climate 
the most salubrious, and its surroundings the most interesting. In spring and summer people 
come to see' the beauties of the city, and to visit the places of public interest of which they 
have heard. In winter people of wealth come to enjoy the comforts of a mild climate and to 





The Capitol. 

participate in the round of semi-official social pleasures. The artist, the philosopher and the 
scholar find here a congenial workshop, and rich stores of the choicest fruits culled from 
nature, art and literature. So, to this city, already great and beautiful, but destined probably 
to be greater and more beautiful than Rome in its prime, come all the currents of the national 
life, a tide of vast magnitude, which increases in volume as the country grows in population 
and the attractions of the Capital multiply in number and variety. It was said of Rome that 
"as the streams lose themselves in the ocean, so the history of the peoples once distributed 
along the Mediterranean shores is absorbed in that of the great mistress of the world." Of 
Washington it may be said that it is rapidly becoming a storehouse of the products of the 

2 (9) 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



genius of all mankind. Our seat of government, apart from its political attractions, contains, 
even now, so much that is of interest in architecture and antiquities, such art collections and 
such treasuries of knowledge and invention in its museums and its Patent Office, as to com- 
pete almost on even terms with the great centres of commerce all combined. The actual 
population of Washington is not above two hundred thousand ; but, like the human heart which 
it typifies, all the blood of the country, sooner or later, runs through it, and everybody is at 
one time or another a resident. The ebb and flow of transient visitors and temporary inhabi- 
tants is so enormous that railways alone can give prompt ingress and egress to the tide, and 
these railways, by the very facilities they furnish, but provoke a still greater volume of travel. 
Do you want to find a particular man on the street ? Stand where you are and he will pass 
by after awhile. So, if you want to see anybody, you have only to go to Washington and 
wait a day or two ; he will be sure to turn up. It is worth your while to visit the city, if 

only to be surprised by the 
sudden appearance of the very 
last person in the world that 
you ever expected to see. 

Washington is located on the 
east bank of the Potomac', at the 
head of navigation, 295 miles 
from the ocean, where the river 
runs from the northwest to the 
I southeast and expands to the 
width of over a mile. It is 
situated upon and surrounded 
by high bluffs and hills on the 
Maryland side, while on the 
opposite side are Arlington 
Heights and Fort Whipple. 
The District of Columbia was 
selected as the site of the 
National Capital after much 
consideration by Congress, ex- 
The Smithsonian Institute. tending over the period from 

October, 1783, to July, 1790; and on the i6th day of the latter 
month the act entitled "An act establishing the temporary and 
permanent seat of government of the United States" was passed by a 
vote of 32 to 29. Many and weighty were the reasons urged for the selection made, not the 
least among which was the deference and respect which would thus be paid to the wishes of 
General Washington, who from the first strongly advocated this point ; his attention, it is said, 
having been fixed upon its advantages when a youthful surveyor of the country round. That he 
builded better than he knew is evidenced in the fact that the Washington of to-day eclipses the 
most sanguine expectations of its founder, and in beauty far surpasses the capitals of other 
nations. The design of L'Enfant who planned the city, although derided for seventy years, 
has through the genius and energy of Governor Shepherd been made to develop into a model 
of convenience and sightliness. Though many changes have been made since Webster- 
denominated Washington "a city of magnificent distances," its broad streets and numerous 
reservations are still suggestive of abundant breathing-room. These broad, well-paved and 
cleanly-swept streets^ interspersed with parks, squares and fountains, are laid out in parallel 




WASHINGTON C/l Y. II 

lines from east to west and north to south, while the avenues radiating from the Capitol and 
Executive Mansion intersect them at various points, forming circles, triangles, and oblongs, all 
of which are beautifully adorned with trees, shrubbery and flowers. There is hardly a street or 
avenue but adown its vista some allurement is displayed ; this one reaches far away through 
the green of maple and linden and the blue of distance across the long bridge to the hills 
of Virginia; that one ends in the lovely grounds of the Agricultural Department or the 
Smithsonian Institute, while Pennsylvania Avenue, like the kaleidoscope, presents new 
scenes at every turn. Almost every foot of its length and breadth is replete with his- 
torical incidents. Here ruler and ruled jostle each other ; cabinet officers and senators 
and representatives are not distinguished above the common mass, and over this smooth 
roadway noiselessly rolls the liveried equipage of foreign ambassadors, side by side with 
the humble vehicle of the private citizen. Sooner or later all the famous of our own 




White House— East View. 



and other countries are tolerably sure to meet and pass upon this grand highway. Wash- 
ington in his yellow chariot, drawn by six white horses, has driven over it; Hamilton, 
Lafayette, Clay, Webster, and all the gods of the Republic have trodden it. Five hundred 
thousand Federal soldiers marched up this avenue in review before the President and the 
Generals of the Army, shouting their songs of gladness, in 1865, when grim-visaged war 
had given way to white-winged peace. Those who remember the Washington of 1861-5, 
upon returning now for the first time, can scarcely realize that the Washington of 
to-day is the same city. Sections which were then outlying swamps, and others that were 
the abode of wretchedness and squalor, have been transformed into something like fairyland. 
Grand and imposing public buildings have been erected ; squares and parks have been laid 
out and improved and beautified, and palatial private residence?, with surrounding adorn- 
ments, have risen up in every quarter. 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



Naturally the public buildings first attract the visitor's eye. The Capitol, the central figure, 
first awes, then allures by its imposing outline and proportions. It is not only the finest 
building in America, but in the world. Standing in all its magnificence upon one of the 
city's highest hills, the great white dome, surmounted by the colossal statue of the Goddess of 
Liberty, rises over the immense pile of granite like an imperishable signal of freedom for the 
oppressed of all the earth. At its base the greensward, velvety lawns and embowering trees 
betoken the shelter and repose found in the shadow of its aegis. The east fagade or front of 
the building looks out over East Capitol Park and the plain of Capitol Hill, with the azure 
hills of " My Maryland " for a background, the west overlooking the business part of the city 
and the Potomac, commanding a view pronounced by the great traveller Humboldt one of 
the most beautiful his eyes had ever beheld. The Capitol is not only interesting and pleasing 
on account of the beauty of its exterior and surroundings, but it contains within some of the 

richest treasures of the nation. 
First, there is the Congressional 
library, one of the largest and most 
valuable in the world ; the Senate 
Chamber, Hall of Representatives, 
Gallery of Statuary, and the Ro- 
tunda filled with paintings by our 
greatest masters. A continuous 
park about two miles in length ex- 
tends from the Capitol westward to 
the Potomac, within which are the 
Botanical Gardens and Green- 
houses, the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion, and New National Museum, 
containing a vast collection of 
natural curiosities and works of 
art, the Department of Agricul- 
ture, the Washington Monument, 
and the Bureau of Engraving and 
Printing, where all our bank notes 
and government stamps are made. 
The west end of this park sweeps 
round to the north, taking in the 
Treasury Building, the Executive 
Mansion, known as the White House, and that elegant new structure, a model of modern 
architecture, occupied by the State, War and Navy Departments. Besides these there are 
in other sections of the city, the Interior Department building, containing the bureaus of 
Indian Affairs, Public Lands, and the Patent Office, with the thousands of models stored there 
as monuments to the genius of American inventors, the Post-Office Department, the Medical 
Museum, the Naval Observatory, the Navy Yard, and many other points each entitled to a 
day's inspection. To minutely mention all the public buildings and institutions is not the 
province of this work. The visitor will find comprehensive guide-books easily obtained if 
needed, and will learn in a few days' sojourn many interesting facts and details not readily 
committed to paper. 

The tourist to Washington usually comes with the notion that the Public Buildings, the 
President and Congress comprise about all there is worth seeing in the Capital. But, while 




Lee Mansion at Arlington. 



IV.^ SUING TON CI T V. 



13 



these are among its chief attractions, there are many others equally calculated to interest and 
delight. Lincoln Park, with the colossal statue of the "Martyred President" striking the 
chains from the limbs of the slave, Lafayette Park, with Mills' Equestrian Statue of Jackson, 
the most wonderful artistic work of its class, Washington Circle, with its statue of him who 
was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen," with various 
other parks and circles wherein are statues 
of Scott, Thomas, McPherson, Farragut 
and other national heroes present a study 
of interest./ The Corcoran Art Gallery, 
the personal gift of the great philan- 
thropist whose name it bears, is known 
throughout the land, and in its spacious 
halls are gathered some of the finest 
gems that have made immortal the artists 
of this and past generations. Besides all 
these interesting features within the city, 
there are other attractions no less im- 
portant in its surroundings. The drives 
about Washington are unsurpassed, af- 
fording views of nature's wildest freaks 
as well as the cultivated splendors of 
romantic and aesthetic taste. Two hun- 
dred old forts crumbling to decay on the 
hills round about are eloquent reminders 
of our late civil war; Arlington, with its memories of 
Washington, Custis and Lee, and its thousands of mounds 
above the dead who died for country ; the Soldiers' Home, with its eight 
or nine hundred acres of park, its unrivalled drives stretching over hill 
and vale, and its wilderness of flowers and forest trees; Kalorama Heights, 
overlooking the city and affording a view southward as far as the eye can 
reach, are each worthy of more than passing notice, and afford hours of pleasant, satisfying 
exploration. The scenery along the Potomac to Great Falls, 16 miles above Georgetown, is 
marvellous in its romantic beauty. A trip past the Georgetown Heights, over the conduit 
road, and past Cabin, John's Bridge, the longest single span in the world, is one of the many 
pleasant rides. The Great Falls themselves and their surroundings comprise a scene scarcely 
equalled anywhere for romantic beauty and ruggedness. Another of the delightful drives 
about the Capital is up Rock Creek, the stream which separates West Washington from the 
city proper. The country around this creek, though bordering upon the city and almost 
entering its very gates, today remains in the perfection of wildness and natural beauty. It is 
indeed an enchanting spot, replete with inviting retreats, leafy bowers and rippling waters. 

" Nature was here so lavish of her store 
That she bestowed until she had no more." 

The garden spot of Washington, literally, is the portion south of Pennsylvania avenue, 
including what is termed the Mall and the White lot. In this area of several hundred acres 
are some beautiful drives, around the Botanical Garden, in the Smithsonian and Agricultural 
grounds, and around the other squares included. The report of the Parking Commission 
shows that there are to-day nearly one hundred and twenty niiles of trees in the city of 




Soldiers' Home. 



14 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



Washington, of which about one-half are maples. The remainder includes poplars, box 
elders, elms, lindens, buttonwooas, willows and firs. These include only the work of the 
Parking Commission and represent the fruits of about ten years' labor. The young trees 
thrive well and give promise of making the city more and more attractive as yearly they 
increase in size. The stately giants in the public parks, also numbered by thousands, are 
not included in the count of nature's ornaments under the charge of this Commission. 

Few visitors to Washington leave it without taking a trip to Mount Vernon, the former home 
and present resting-place of the "Father of his Country." It is an exceedingly pleasant 
excursion down the Potomac past Fort Washington and Fort Foote, and the scenery along 

the river is full of 
picturesque inter- 
est. The steamer 
Corcoran which 
makes this trip dai- 
ly, leaving at lo a. 
M., and returning 
at 4 P.M., is one 
of the finest ves- 
sels on the river, 
and is under the 
command of Cap- 
tain L. L. Blake, 
well known as an 
experienced and 
genial officer. The 
tolling of the 
steamer's bell an- 
nounces the ap- 
proach to the tomb of Washington, in accordance with the 
custom among all steam vessels while passing Mount 
Vernon. Once in the grounds time passes so rapidly 
while wandering through the groves and gardens of this 
beautiful old homestead, standing high upon the bluff overlooking the river, and there is 
so much interest in looking through the quaint old rooms of the mansion, that the day seems 
all too short. It is not the object of this article to picture all the visitor may see in and 
around the National Capital, but the aim has been to direct attention to some of the most 
attractive features, and to give a reason for the faith that is in us — to tell how the tourist may 
be repaid for coming here. Washington is reached from the south by. the Virginia Midland 
and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railways. From New York, Philadelphia 
and the East or West take the Pennsylvania Railroad. From the Southwest the Chesapeake and 
Ohio is the best route. The Baltimore and Ohio road also runs into Washington, and during 
the summer the Potomac Steamboat Company run a daily line to Norfolk connecting with 
steamers for New York, Boston and other points on the Atlantic coast. The hotel accommo- 
dations of the city are excellent and ample. The Arlington, Willard's, the Riggs, the Ebbitt, 
and other large first-class houses are unsurpassed in all their appointments. No city in the 
Union is better equipped for entertaining large numbers in comfort and luxury. 




^iFginiei Res©rts. 




HE Old Dominion embraces within her borders such an extensive variety of health- 
restoring, pleasure-giving resorts as to be well entitled to a special classification of 
her own. Traversed by two ranges of mountains and innumerable winding rivers, 
the State abounds in beautiful valleys and incomparable landscapes, the magnificence 
and grandeur of which are 
not fully appreciated by 
many of her own people. 
One of the finest views the 
writer ever beheld may hs 
seen from the summit of the 
Blue Ridge mountains near 
Snicker's Gap, looking down 
into the famous Loudon val- 
ley ; but there are a hundred 
others from various points 
in both the Blue Ridge and 
the Alleghanies nearly equal 
to it. Not only has Vir- 
ginia her full share of moun- 
tains, high rugged crags and 
rocky slopes, but beautiful 
cascades, wonderful caves, 
and romantic glens are en- 
countered in various por- 
tions of her domain. In the 
diversity, surprising charac- 
ter, and interesting features 
of the study she affords to 
lovers of the marvellous and 
picturesque, few localities 
can sustain a claim to supe- 
riority over the old State, 
which, in the early days of 
our national history, won 
distinction as "the mother 
of presidents." 

The mountains of Vir- 
ginia do not point bold stony summits above the clouds far beyond vegetation and timber 
line, like the lofty peaks of the Rockies in Colorado or the Sierras in California, but they are 
high enough to be grand, while still retaining the charm and beauty of verdure. The climate, 
in general, is that of the temperate zone, and the mountain region is exceedingly healthy. 
The thermometer seldom rises higher than 85° in the hottest days, and the nights are always 
cool. Occupying a middle ground t)etween the rigorous climate of the North and the ener- 
vating heat of the extreme South, Virginia is geographically one of the choicest sections of the 
country. The principal rivers of the State are the Potomac, the Greenbrier, the Rappahannock, 

(15) 




New Rivet' al INuttallburg, C. and. O. Railway. 



OUK A MEN /CAN A'£SOA'T.S. 



the Shenandoah, the James, of which the Chickahominy is a tributary, the York, the New, 
and the Roanoke. Nearly all these are navigable to a considerable distance toward the moun- 
tains in which they generally take their rise, and their banks are highly picturesque. Beyond 
the limits of navigation the wildness of mountain streams obtain, and numerous waterfalls 




of striking beauty 
are to be seen. 
Of these, the falls 
of the James 
River, and the 
New River Falls, seven miles 
from Hinton, on the Chesa- 
peake and Ohio Railway, are 
perhaps the most noted. The cataract 
of the latter is but twenty-four feet high, 
but the width of the river and extent of 
the rapids make a scene of unusual 
wonder. Next to her mountains, the Mineral Springs of Virginia are her chief attraction. 
They are many in number and extensively varied in character. Some are famous throughout 
the country, the Old White Sulphur, for instance, having been a noted fashionable resort 
and political rendezvous for years before the Civil V/ar. Several of the most prominent are 
situated on the line of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. The tourist over this line will 
enjoy one of the most picturesque journeys to be found on this continent. The scenery is 



Griffiths' Knob, C. and O. Railway. 



VIRGINIA RESORTS. 



17 



not, perhaps, as sublime and startling as that along the narrow gauge roads of Colorado, but 
it is wild and abrujit, with all the softening tints of a fine painting. Along the Norfolk and 
Western and Shenandoah Valley roads there 
are also glimpses of such landscapes as few 
sections of country afford. 

" 'Tis beauty {ruly lent, whose red and wliite 
Nature's o\mi sweet cunning hand hiid on." 

Every one who has ever crossed the Alps 
into Italy remembers the zigzags from which he 
looks down on the valley lie is reaching, but 
without exaggeration it may be said that all the 
alternations of dark tunnel and picturesque 
valley of that famous little road could be sub- 
tracted from the Chesapeake and Ohio line 
without being missed. All travellers by the 
famous Pennsylvania Railroad remember that 
attractive piece of fancy engineering known as 
Horseshoe Bend, and nobody has gone to 
California without treasuring a recollection of 
the rounding of Cape Horn, where the train 
winds round the high brow of a mountain as if 
it had climbed up to give you a look at the 
valleys below. The tourist across the Virginias 
can have delights like these again and again 
repeated. The Rhine owes no little of its 
attractiveness to the battlements on its steeps. 
The New River is not indeed like the Rhine in 
depth or breadth ; but it has features of its own. 




Buffalo Gap. 






Now it is a broad stream leisurely chattering 
to the woods that overhang it ; anon it is in a narrower bed scolding the rocks as large as houses, 

that have intruded themselves upon it from 
the hill-sides, of which they grew weary. But 
for giant cliffs, Eagle's Nests, Lover's Leaps, and 
mountain fastnesses in ruins, the New River can 
compete with any stream of travelled lands, and 
with this difference in its favor, that no cunning 
count or baron bold piled up those frowning 
battlements. Geological forces in an Omnipo- 
tent hand, and with unlimited time in which 
to work, placed these precipitous, castle-like 
crowns on the wooded hills, and gave them a 
peculiarity not seen elsewhere, namely, that 
behind them corn and wine abound; for the 
Alleghanies are fertile to their summits. As 
one is whirled along, it is difificult to say which 
challenges most admiration — the river below, the cliffs above, the graceful lines of the hills, 
the moving shadows over the green slopes of the mountain sides, or the sublime audacity 
that built a railroad through such a region. The Chesapeake and Ohio (onnects with the 
Virginia Midland at Charlottesville, where passengers from Philadelphia, Baltimore, and 




^A7"hale's Head. 



'ill:: 



ii' 




^4^ltff' '' ^""' 



(i8) 



VIKGLV/A RESORTS. 



19 



Washington by the latter may change for the Virginia Springs or for points in West Virginia 
and the West, including Cincinnati and Louisville. A favorite summer route from the East 
is by water to Richmond or Fortress Monroe and Old Point Comfort, thence west by the 
Chesapeake and Ohio. 

Starting from proud old Alexandria, the Virginia Midland route passes through a section of 
country not only full of natural attractions, but bristling with points of historical interest 
dating back to the Revolution and extending down to our late Civil War. Following the 
southwesterly trend of the 
Blue Ridge mountains after 
it leaves Alexandria, the 
road shows an almost con- 
tinuous ascent until it 
reaches the memorable bat- 
tle-field of Manassas. Here 
a fine view of the surround- 
ing country may be had ; 
and from the earth-works, 
pared down by the hand of 
time, which mark the out- 
lines of the entrenched 
camp built by the Confed- 
erates, a very wide landscape 
is seen. At Riverton the 
Manassas Division of the 
Midland crosses the She- 
nandoah Valley Railroad, 
with its magnificent scenic 
and metallurgic attractions. 
Going northward the trav- 
eller in a few minutes finds 
himself in Clarke County, 
and surrounded by the his- 
toric homes of the gentry 
of the old days, some of 
their country seats being on 
a style that is truly lordly. 
Washington's office and 
lodgings at Soldiers' Rest, 
where Gen. Daniel Morgan, 
of Revolutionary fame, 
once lived; Greenway 
Court, the seat of the ec- 
centric Lord Fairfax; the old chapel, built in 1796; the homes of Philip Pendleton Cooke, 
the poet-author of "Florence Vane," and of his scarcely less distinguished brother, John Esten 
Cooke, the novelist, are in Clarke County. Nor are historic associations with the late war want- 
ing, many combats and skirmishes having taken place at or near Millwood and Berryville, the 
county seat. All through this section are various unpretentious summer resorts, where people 
from the neighboring cities find pleasant homes for the hot months. At Lynchburg close 




Falling Springs. 



20 OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 

connections are made by the Midland with the Norfolk and Western Railroad for New Orleans, 
while at Chattanooga divergent lines convey the traveller to Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., 
Texas, and all points in the South and Southwest. At Danville the Midland connects with 
the famous Richmond and Danville system, which under one management extends from the 
Virginia capital to Augusta and Atlanta, Ga., and embraces over 2000 miles of road. 

Among the mineral springs of Virginia and West Virginia are many well-known resorts. 
The bare enumeration of them all would fill a page or more of this book, and to attempt an 
account of their curative qualities, or various claims as places of resort, would require the en- 
tire space of an octavo volume. Situated as they generally are, high up among the Alleghany 
ranges, they enjoy the perfection of mountain atmosphere and an abundance of forest shade. 
First and foremost are the Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, in West Virginia, more fully 
spoken of elsewhere. The Red Sulphur, also in West Virginia, are twelve miles from Falcott 
Station, on the C. and O. Railway, and are the only springs of the kind in this country. The 
Sweet Chalybeate Springs are nine miles from the railroad, reached by stage from Alleghany, 




Lover's Leap, James River, near Lynchburg. 

in the height of the mountains. The "Old" Sweet, as they are called, are ten miles from 
Alleghany. These and the Berkeley and Capon Springs are in West Virginia. Healing Springs, 
in Bath County, Virginia, are sixteen miles from Covington, over a splendid turnpike. The 
Hot Springs are four miles further on in the same locality. Jordan Alum and the Rockbridge 
Alum are also on the Chesapeake and Ohio, reached by stage from Gosham and Millboro, re- 
spectively. Rawley Springs are in Rockingham County, twelve miles from Harrisonburg. 
The Yellow Sulphur are located three miles from Christiansburg, on the Norfolk and Western 
Railroad, and the Blue Ridge Springs are directly on the line of that road. The Fauquier 
White Sulphur are near the terminus of the Warrenton branch of the Virginia Midland. All 
these springs are more or less famous and j)opular, and good accommodations may be found 
at each. 

Coyner's Springs. 

These White and Black Sulphur Springs are situated on the line of the Norfolk and 
Western Railroad, in Botetourt County, Va., in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains, 46 



VIRGINIA RESORTS. 21 

miles west of Lynchburg, within 5 miles of Roanoke City, and 158 miles from Bristol. The 
waters of these springs are celebrated for their medicinal qualities, and have been resorted to 
for years. In cases of difficult, imperfect or painful digestion, enfeebled condition of the 
nervous system, chronic diseases of the bladder or kidneys, skin diseases, indolent liver, with 
difficult or vitiated secretions, they will be found to be well adapted. The Black Suli)hur 
Spring is pronounced by physicians a natural emmenagogue, and peculiarly adapted to diseases 
pertaining to females, and is a specific in most cases. The improvements consist of a large four- 
story hotel, and cottages ranging on each side of a beautiful lawn handsomely shaded, through 
which a crystal stream passes. The climate is delightful, and in one of the most healthy situ- 
ations in the mountains of Virginia. Accommodations for 250 guests. All passenger trains 
of the Norfolk and Western road stop here, and conveyances from the hotel meet all arrivals. 
From Washington take the Virginia Midland train to Lynchburg. 

Fincastle. 

Situated six miles from Troutsville, on the Shenandoah Valley Railroad, is the delightful 
village of Fincastle, which has of late years become a popular summer home for families from 
the neighboring cities. It is easy of access and the locality is exceedingly healthy, having an 
elevation of 1200 feet above sea level. Good fishing is reported in the streams and plenty of 
game near by. By a consolidation of interests a new Union Hotel has taken the place of 
Hayth's and the Western hotels, and excellent accommodations for a large number are now 
offered by Mr. William B. Hayth, the proprietor. 

Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs. 

These springs, the most fashionable and popular of all Southern resorts, are frequented 
every season by thousands of the elite of all sections of the country. The properties of the 
waters and the surroundings and attractions of the place are fully spoken of in another part 
of this book, under the head of " Mineral Spring Resorts." Next to the medicinal value of 
the waters, and the invigorating climate, the company which annually assembles there is most 
worthy of comment. Statesmen, men of letters, politicians, jurists, belles, and beauties, all 
gay and brilliant spirits turn to this enchanting spot, and here pleasure takes up her abode. 
The cottage system, with its pretty homelike surroundings, enables visitors to live in a whirl 
of gayety or the utmost retiracy, as their wishes may dictate. During the season, besides the 
nightly balls, there are several grand fancy and masquerades, which add to the amusement of 
the guests. The accommodations are extensive and comfortable ; besides the cottages, which 
are a hundred in number, the Grand Hotel is the largest building in the South. The house 
has been leased for five years by Harrison Phcebus, the popular proprietor of the Hygeia at 
Old Boint Comfort, and it will undoubtedly be kept in the same luxurious style as the latter, 
achieving a popularity never before attained. 

Mountain Lake. 

This singular and rather attractive place is well known in Virginia as "Salt Pond," but 
outside of the State there is very little acquaintance with it. The lake, the chief object of 
interest, is a beautiful and picturesquely situated little body of water, the highest, perhaps, in 
this part of the country, being over 4000 feet above the level of the sea. It is about half a 
mile in length by less than a quarter wide, with no visible inlet or outlet. Its depth is some- 
thing remarkable, reaching, in some places, as authoritatively reported, over 200 feet. The 
origin of this lake is a mystery, though the traditions of the locality attribute it to the tramp- 
ing of herds of deer and buffalo frequenting a salt-lick on the spot many years ago, thus 
causing the earth to " hold water." This explanation, however, would hardly seem to account 





1 1 '- 




Hawk's Nest. 



(22) 



VIRGINIA RESORTS. ,, 

for the great depth of the lake, which has been steadily increasing. Since 1804 this increase 
has amounted to 25 feet. No drouth ever affects it. The most probable theory is that the 
presence of this lake is due to some subterranean stream like Lost River. There is some 
remarkablfe scenery in the locality, views from the "Crow's Nest" and "Bald Knob," two 
high points near by, equalling any in the whole range of mountains for extent and beauty. 
Altogether the place would be one of unusual attractiveness if put m the hands of enterprising 
owners and provided with better improvements and accommodations. It is reached by stage 
or private conveyance from Christiansburg on the Norfolk and Western Railroad, or from 
Eggleston on the New River branch, now open, and twelve miles nearer. 

Old Point Comfort. 

There is scarcely a resort in the country more widely and favorably known than the Hygeia 
Hotel at "Old Point." Health-seekers from the northeastern and northwestern cities con- 
gregate at this half-way place between the tropics and their own colder climate in large numbers 
during the winter and spring, while many others seek it for the sea air in summer. It is also 
a favorite stopping-place for thousands who come that way on their return from Florida and 
the Bermudas. The Hygeia is situated one hundred yards from Fort Monroe, at the confluence 
of the Chesapeake Bay and Hampton Roads, fifteen miles from Norfolk and Portsmouth. It 
is reached by daily lines of steamers from Baltimore, Washington, Richmond and Norfolk, 
and by rail via the Midland and Chesapeake and Ohio Railways. The hotel is four stories in 
height, substantially built and well furnished. It has two Otis elevators, electric bells, with 
every modern convenience, including hot sea baths. It is in fact a perfect sanitarium. By 
improvements and additions recently made over 1000 guests can be comfortably entertained 
at any time. Wide and joyous-looking verandas fronting on the water, having 1500 feet, or 
about half their extent, encased in glass, during the cooler season, afford retreats where the 
most delicate may enjoy the sunlight and water-view without exposure. There is music and 
dancing every evening, and all the pleasures of a fashionable watering-place are to be enjoyed. 





§a?rrn !prri:-r!ii*\aji,'>'i|{7ffB(ftifr 



-Hiilaryed 



The climate of Old Point Comfort is unequalled for salubrity and general healthfulness, ma- 
larial fevers being absolutely unknown. The meteorological record for the past ten years 
shows an average temperature of 74° in summer, 59° in autumn, 44° in winter, and 52" for 
spring. The whole region roundabout is filled with picturesque scenery, offering delightful 
drives by day and romantic strolls by night. Boating and fishing are especially attractive, 
and the surf bathing, which is good from May until November, is unsurpassed on the Atlantic 
seaboard. For sleeplessness and nervousness, the delicious tonic of the pure ocean air and 
the lullaby of the waves rolling upon the sandy beach, but a few feet from the bedroom 
windows, are most healthful soporifics. 




A Pennsylvania Forest.— In the AUeghanies. 



(24) 



ieBFis\%eiBia Res©Pfes. 




VERY American tourist or considerable traveller is more or less familiar with 
Pennsylvania scenery. In whatever direction one travels over that model railway 
^^^^r line which takes its name from the State, but which long since extended itself nearly 
^1 over the whole country, many glimpses will be obtained of those natural beauties 
that have been made famous in story and song. One striking feature of Pennsylvania scenery 
is its endless variety. The entire State is an alternation of mountain ranges, bold cliffs and 
towering cones, beautiful 
rivers, charming fertile 
valleys and rolling land- 
scapes, with here and 
there a gorge or gap 
through which a water- 
course takes its way to 
the sea. Those whose 
eyes are familiar only 
with the broad prairies 
of the Mississippi valley 
or the great plains of the 
West, will be filled with 
new emotions upon ob- 
taining a first view of this 
ever-changing panorama 
in passing over the Penn- 
sylvania route. The wild 
and rugged appearance 
of the mountains, the loftiness of 
their peaks, and the dense growth of 
timber covering their sides, is sud- 
denly contrasted with a glimpse of 
the broad Susquehanna and rich, 

highly cultivated farms. The principal rivers of Pennsylvania 
are almost as well known as the "Father of Waters" in the 
West. Who has not heard of the Schuylkill, the Delaware, the Alleghany, 
the Susquehanna, and the beautiful Juniata? And equally world-wide is 
the fame of such valleys as the Wyoming, the Chester, and the Cumberland. 
Nor have the beauties of nature been left unimproved by the hand of man. The State teems 
with a large population, which has covered its surface, particularly along the railways and 
canals, with great cities and flourishing towns. No pen description can do adequate justice 
to the surface appearance of the Keystone State, a section of the Union which all Americans 
will find it profitable and enjoyable to behold before searching for pleasure in the Old World. 
To the New Englander the State of Pennsylvania is as much of a surprise as it can be to the 
farmer from Missouri or Kansas. He finds Philadelphia considerably larger than Boston ; he 
sees colleges, churches, and schools in every direction, which equal those he left at home ; he 
crosses rivers much wider and longer than the Connecticut or Penobscot ; he disco,vers that 
the Green Mountains are a row of hills by the side of the Alleghanies; and he looks with 

3 (25) 




26 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



wonder, if not astonishment, upon the coal and iron mining operations. Railway trains run 
into the sides of lofty mountains; they pass under ranges of mountains; they scale their very 
tops, and run up and down the sides of the steepest with no apparent friction. The feats of 
railway engineering which have been accomplished in Pennsylvania are second only to those 
we read of in the Andes of South America, the Alps of Switzerland, or the Rockies of 
Colorado. 




Mill Creek, Penna. Railroad. 

But this State is not all mountains, mines, and railways. Portions of it, as in the vicinity 
of Harrisburg, York, and Philadelphia, seem as if the'garden spot of the Union. The farms 
are immensely productive ; the barns are large and bursting ; the dwellings handsome, modern 
and commodious. If Pennsylvania were in Europe it would rank as a first-class kingdom, the 
envy of its neighbors. At various points in the State adjacent to the Pennsylvania Railroad, 
are many natural curiosities of considerable note. In the neighborhood of Lewistown, a 
beautifully located spot, are several curious caves. Alexander's, in Kishicoquillas Valley, 



PENNSYLVANIA RESORTS. 



27 



abounds in fine stalagmites and is a natural ice-house, preserving in the midst of summer the 
ice formed in winter. Hanewall's Cave near McVeytown is of vast dimensions, and contains 
calcareous concretions. Near Tyrone is Sinking Spring Valley and the creek from which it 
takes its name. This creek emerges from the Arch Spring, and then proceeds to lose itself 
again and again as it flows onward. Some of the pits through which it is visible are several 
hundreds of feet in ^ 

depth. Many of these ^z'l^^ - . _, 

openings are seen along 
the sunken stream, which 
at length appears upon 
the surface for a short 
distance. It then enters 
a large cave, through 
which it flows in a chan- 
nel about twenty feet 
wide for a distance of 
more than three hun- 
dred yards, when the 
cave widens, the creek 
turns, and is plunged 
into a cavern where the 
waters are whirled and 
churned with terrific 
force. Sticks and long 
pieces of timber are im- 
mediately carried out 
of sight, but where they 
go has never been as- 
certained — no outlet for 
the waters having been 
discovered. This curi- 
osity is much visited by 
parties from the neigh- 
boring resort, Altoona. 
Another peculiar forma- 
tion is "Jack's Narrows" 
near Mt. Union, made 
by the river forcing it- 
self through Jack's 
Mountain. This gorge 
is wild and rugged in 
its appearance, the sides 
being almost destitute 







J ^( k to Nariowfe, Peniid R^uhoad. 

of vegetation, exposing immense masses of gray and sombre rock. The mountain receives its 
name from a weird, mysterious hunter and Indian slayer, who made his haunts in the valley 
previous to the Revolutionary War. The Narrows were called in early Colonial records, 
"Jack Anderson's Narrows," from the fact that in them an Indian trader named John An- 
derson and his two servants were murdered by the savages. 



28 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 






Some of the finest scenery in Pennsylvania is in the Alleghany Valley, partaking of the 
peculiarities of the " beautiful river " of the early French explorers. This stream is remark- 
able in many respects. By means of French Creek and Le Boeuf Lake, and Conewango Creek 
and Chautauqua Lake on the northwest it almost touches Lake Erie; on the northeast it 
stretches out its long arms towards the Genesee River in New York and the north branch of 
the Susquehanna, while on the south it pours its waters through the Ohio and Mississippi into 
the Gulf of Mexico. For the greater part of its course it flows, not through a broad valley 

like most rivers, but in 
a great ravine, from one 
hundred to four hundred 
feet below the level of 
the adjacent country. 
The scenery is in some 
places of the wild and 
rugged sort, but more 
generally is picturesque 
and beautiful. The hills 
though steep are clothed 
with a dense forest, pre- 
senting the appearance 
of vast verdant walls 
washed at their base by 
the limpid waters. There 
are no rocks, strictly 
speaking, in the channel. 
But the most famous 
portion perhaps of the 
Keystone State, is the 
valley of the Schuylkill, 
through which runs the 
Philada. and Reading 
Railroad. The praises 
of this beautiful river 
and its flowery banks 
were sung by the poet 
Moore, who many years 
ago occupied a lowly 
cottage near what is now 
Fairmount Park. The 
valley is also historically 
famous for having been 

Alleghany River at Freeport: the SCene of SOme of the 

darkest episodes of the Revolution. Here, amid the snows of December, Washington with 
his little army of frozen, barefooted patriots was threatened with attack by the British com- 
mander, Howe, and his force of 14,000 redcoats. Skirmishers were frequently out, but on 
the i6th of that month the invaders began to draw in their lines, evidently satisfied that their 
opponents were too strong. Finally both armies went into winter quarters, Howe at Phila- 
delphia and Washington at Valley Forge down the river. Among the Generals in pur army 




FENNS YL VA NIA RESOR TS. 



29 



there was quite a discussion as to whether quarters should be taken up at Reading, York, or 
Carlisle, and the result is thus stated by one of the poets of that or a later period : 

" But Washington decided 

When all had spoken rouhd, 
That Valley Forge, in Chester, 
Should be our winter ground." 

Near here is Phoenixville, a prettily situa- 
ted town, which has the honor of having 
produced the iron of which the dome of the j 
capitol at Washington was made. Norris- | 
town, Pottsville andReading, three of the 
important inland towns of the State, are 
also situated in this Valley. The original 
line of the Philadelphia and Reading 
Railroad extended only between the Iwo : 
cities from which it is named — a distance [ 
of 58 miles — but the road now comprises, 
including branches and leased lines, over 
1500 miles of track. It runs through 
valleys and up mountains, in all diiec 
tions, and embraces some of the finest 
scenery to be found anywhere. It aKo 
forms in connection with the Cential 
Railroad of New Jersey, the popular 
Bound Brook Route between Philadel- 
phia and New York. Lovers of the 
picturesque find enough to interest them 
in the vicinity of Reading, and further 
on near Quakake Junction the Railroad 
climbs inclined planes up the sides of the 
highest mountain, affording views of land- 
scape unsurpassed in extent and beauty 
Here we see the typical American forest 
in all its wildness. Beyond, across the 
narrow valleys, is Catawissa creek, rolling 
and lashing along its rocky channel. 

The summer resorts of Pennsylvania ^ Glimpse of the schuyik.ii. 

are not for the most part to be classed as fashionable resorts such as are sought by those votaries 
of the giddy goddess who go abroad in summer to dress and dance and to keep up the dizzy 
whirl in which they have lived all winter at home in the city. But for those who desire rest 
and change, with pure air and the enjoyment of nature, they are peculiarly adapted. 

Altoona. 

Few places in Pennsylvania present more genuine attractions, considering both health and 
pleasure, than this. Situated at the head of Logan Valley, on the main line of the Pennsyl- 
vania Railroad and on the western slope of the Allegheny mountains, it possesses many special 
advantages in the variety and extent of its surrounding attractions and the number of inter- 




3° 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



esting objective points for drives or short trips by rail. Altoona is the Summit City of Penn- 
sylvania, being 1200 feet above the level of the sea and in an atmosphere of unusual purity, 
under the influence of which asthmatic sufferers and the victims of hay fever, in many cases, 
find immediate and complete relief. The scenery of the locality is of the most varied descrip- 
tion and presents, within a radius of a few miles, a gradual transition from the graceful and 
picturesque to the rugged and sublime. A short distance west is the famous " Horseshoe 
Curve." The valley here separates into two chasms, but by a grand curve, the sides of which 




Logan House, Altoona. 

are for some distance parallel with each other, the road crosses both ravines on a high em- 
bankment, cuts away the point of the mountain dividing them, and sweeps around and up 
the stupendous western wall. Looking eastward from the curve, the view is peculiarly im- 
pressive, while at Allegrippus, where the majesty of the mountains seems to culminate, the vast 
hills in successive ranges roll away in billowy swells to the far horizon, the prospect being only 
bounded by the power of vision. Twice each day during the summer open " observation 
cars" are attached to the day express trains, and make the round trip between Cresson and 
Altoona, enabling passengers to see with ease and pleasure the unsurpassed scenery of the 
AUeghanies. 



rE/VNSYLVA/V/A J^ESOKTS. ^I 

Opportunity is afforded for another pleasing diversion by the vicinity on the north of the 
Wopsononoc mountain, easily accessible to carriages, from whose summit is spread before the 
eye a panoramic view which is, in the opinion of experienced travellers, unsurpassed upon 
either continent in all those features which delight and inspire. It comprises the entire valley 
of the '^ Blue Juniata," a picture of highly-cultivated farms and smiling peace and plenty, 
bounded by swelling ranges of hills, which gradually fade away in the azure of the distant 
horizon. The celebrated " Sinking Spring Valley," with its subterranean streams and im- 
mense caverns, lies to the eastward, while on the southeast is the Bell's Gap Narrow-Gauge 
Railroad, excursions by which, to the summits of the mountain, are among the most satisfac- 
toryand popular diversions of life at Altoona. The views in this locality are less extended 
and open. The valleys become huge ravines, from which the hills rise on either side almost 
precipitously. The grade of the road rises one hundred and fifty feet to the mile, and as the 
diminutive trains creep up and along the sides of the vast amphitheatre of living green, the 
scene is such as to defy the power of pen description. To the facilities of the Logan House 
for supplying the "creature comforts" no elaborate allusion is necessary. The building 
itself, surrounded by broad piazzas, is elegant in all its appointments and provided with all 
conveniences, including electric bells. The elevated site, charming surroundings, delightful 
air, and convenience of access combine to render it one of the most desirable resorts in the 
State. The large and beautifully shaded lawn affords a fine field for croquet and other outdoor 
sport, while within ten-pin alleys, billiard tables, etc., provide ample facilities for recreation. 
All the mountain streams in the vicinity abound in trout, rendering the locality a paradise for 
the angler. Altoona is but eight hours' ride from Philadelphia and Baltimore, nine from 
Washington, ten from New York, and three from Pittsburgh. Passengers from these points 
are assured of transportation facilities of the most perfect character, via the Pennsylvania and 
Northern Central Railroads. The traveller by this line who regales himself at the Logan 
House, on his journey, will see conspicuously painted upon the wall of the great dining-room, 
a picture representing, in all the gorgeousness of savage dress, Logan, the famous Mingo chief, 
whose name is associated with the earlier history of the State. 

B3dford Springs. 

These springs, situated in Bedford County, one mile from the town of Bedford, enjoy a 
high reputation for the health-restoring qualities of their waters and the air of the locality. 
The waters are recommended for a wide range of diseases, including those of the liver, the 
kidneys, and the skin, and for some of these ailments are pronounced absolute specifics. A 
distinguished physician, writing to the "Medical Examiner," says: "I have, myself, twice 
gone to Bedford so prostrated as scarcely to endure the fatigue of the journey, and wholly 
disqualified for all exertion, and have in both instances returned, at the end of a fortnight or 
three weeks, restored to my wonted power of labor, and have witnessed similar results in the 
cases of friends and patients." The springs were discovered in 1S04, and the following year 
were frequented by persons afflicted with diseases, who encamped in the valley to be near the 
newly-discovered fountain of health. Not long afterwards accommodations were provided for 
visitors, and for threescore years they have regularly drawn a large number of health and 
pleasure seekers. The natural beauty of the valley where the springs burst forth is great, and 
it seems to have been formed by nature as a retreat for wearied and suffering humanity. 
High hills surround it, ascended by terraced walks, and from their summits pleasing vistas 
open. From the elevated position of these springs, among the ranges of the Alleghany 
Mountains, and the dense forest growth surrounding them, the atmosphere is always deliciously 



32 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



cool; and doubtless much of the benefit derived by visitors is owing to the fact that no suffer- 
ing is experienced from a midsummer sun, and that refreshing sleep can always be enjoyed. 
Bedford is an old town, and has an interesting history. It was the site of an important fort 




Bedford Springs. 

in colonial times, and some of the most illustrious names in American annals are associated 
with events occurring here towards the close of the eighteenth and in the early years of the 

tai'To d\r"^-"rd- ^'^ 'f^'^' ^°""^^^ ^^ picturesque-fertile valleys and rugged n.oun! 
tarns, holding rich deposits of iron-ore, abounding in all directions. 



PENNSYLVANIA RESORTS. ' ^.X 

Cresson Springs. 

Among the Pennsylvania Resorts which have attained great popularity, Cresson stands 
second to none. It first became famous for the curative properties of its mineral springs and 
the Exceeding beauty of its surroundings, combining all the attractions of a quiet mountain 
resort with the advantages of superior medicinal waters, and adding to the enjoyment of both 
the excellent accommodations and conveniences of the best city hotels. Cresson is located 
almost on the summit of the AUeghanies, 2300 feet above the level of the sea, in the midst of 
the most delightful scenery, and while thus affording irresistible attractions for the heat- 
oppressed and care-worn seeking a quiet retreat where rest and recuperation may be had with- 
out the sacrifice of personal comfort, it is easy of access from all the great cities, being 
immediately on the main line of the Pennsylvania Railroad within a {^^n hours' ride from New 
York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, in the East, and Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, In- 
dianapolis, and Louisville, in the West. Round trip excursion tickets from all points to and 
from Cresson are on sale at all ticket offices during the season. The mineral springs at Cresson 
flow from the mountain in the vicinity of the hotel, and it is attested by eminent medical 
authority that "there are no more valuable medicinal waters in the Union than those of 
Cresson Springs," The water of one has aperient action, while another possesses decided 
tonic properties. The alum water is one of the most valuable agents known for loss of tone 
and vigor to the skin, in general debility, and in all congestive conditions of the skin. In 
the centre of the hall of the hotel, set up in capacious coolers for the free use of guests, are all 
the mineral waters of jthe place, with those of Saratoga, Bedford, and Minnequa, 

The new Mountain House, erected during the fall and winter of 1880-81, on the site of the 
old hotel, is a very striking structure in the Queen Anne style of architecture, into which is 
blended the Oriental. It is located on the crest of a hill in the midst of a delightful grove. 
The main front is 300 feet long, with an elevation of about 100 feet, embracing four stories 
and basement, with wings extending from each end to a depth of 220 feet. The whole build- 
ing is surrounded by a covered piazza 16 feet wide, forming a promenade 1200 feet in length. 
The new hotel, although having accommodations for seven hundred guests, was found inad- 
equate to accommodate one-half of those desirous of patronizing it last season, and during the 
past winter it has been enlarged by an extension of the west wing to the dimensions contem- 
plated in the original plan — the addition containing eighty sleeping-rooms. At the eastern 
end another wing has been added, containing ten-pin alley and children's dining-room, the 
room used for the last-named purpose last season having been incorporated in the main dining- 
room, increasing its seating capacity to fully 800. The hotel itself will accommodate about 
900 guests, in addition to which there are 25 cottages in the surrounding grove, providing 
special accommodations for those seeking seclusion and the perfect quiet of home, while 
dwelling near enough to the concert and the dance to participate at pleasure. The cottages 
form a portion of the Mountain House property, and are managed by and under the immediate 
charge of the hotel officers and servants, meals being served either in the main dining-room 
of the hotel or at the cottages, as specially arranged. Board walks extend from the main 
building to all the houses, and the ways are brilliantly lighted at night. As the railroad 
station is at the foot of the lawn, within a stone's throw of the main entrance, no fatiguing 
stage or wagon ride at the end of a long journey is necessary in going to or from Cresson. 

In contrast with the mountain fastnesses all around Cresson the beautiful and extensive 
grounds about the hotel have a peculiar charm, there being about 400 acres of land in lawns, 
gardens and groves. The surroundings of the hotel are attractive, and pleasant drives lead 
away through the almost unbroken forests, where the laurel, the hemlock and the pine afford 



PENNS YL VA NIA RESOR TS. 



35 



a delightful shade and fdl the air with the ceaseless rustle of their branches. A mile or so from 
the house is the Old Portage Road, with its ten inclined planes, by which the Pennsylvania 
Road originally crossed the mountains. It was once one of the wonders of this continent, but 
is now abandoned, and is visited only by the curious and the student of our system of internal 
improvements. Comfortably seated behind one of the fine teams always to be depended on 
at the livery, connected with the office of the hotel by telephone, the drive over the Old Port- 
age Road is one of the finest through wild-wood scenery the visitor can take. Ferns and wild 
flowers grow on all sides, beautiful vistas through the trees greet you at every turn, and the 
smell of the green spruce and pine foliage, deepened by the dew and borne on the cool air, is 
delicious. 

Dela-ware Y/ater Gap, 

This peculiarly beautiful and picturesque resort is known to tourists far and wide throughout 
our land. The name " Water Gap" is given to that point in the course of the Delaware river 
where it forces its way through the Kittatinny or Blue Ridge Mountains. Mounts Minsi and 




Delaware AA^ater Gap. 




(36) 



PE.VNS YL VAN I A RES OR TS. 



37 



Tammany form the walls of the Gap, their almost precipitous sides rising against the horizon 
to a height of a thousand feet, approaching each other closely as if in determination to bar the 
river's course. Indeed, it is believed they did so at one time in the thousands of yqars agone. 
The Indians gave to the valley north of the Blue Ridge and above the Gap, the name of " Minni- 
sink," or "Whence the Waters are Gone." "Here," says a writer, "a vast lake once 
probably extended, and whether the great body of water wore its way through the mountain 
by a fall like Niagara, or burst through a gorge, or whether the mountains uprose in convulsion 
upon its margin, it is certain that the Minnisink country bears the mark of aqueous action 
in its diluvial soil, and in its rounded hills, built of pebbles and boulders." 

The attractions of the Delaware river, which, above Trenton, is one of the most picturesquely 
beautiful streams in the United States, culminate at the Water Gap, and form a location equalled 
by few in the country in its adaptation to the purpose of health and pleasure. An organiza- 
tion of gentlemen from New York and Philadelphia, yclept the " Minsi Pioneers," through 
a long course of systematic and well-directed labor, have opened a great number of paths and 
rambles upon the mountain side, and have thus added a feature to the other attractions of the 
Gap which is of inestimable value. These rambles are practically exhaustless in fine views 
and situations, and all along the route are scattered seats and rustic summer-houses for their 
pleasant contemplation. The summit of Mount Minsi is easily accessible to carriages, and from its 
narrow crest, scarcely more than fifty feet wide, a panoramic view may be obtained of vast ex- 
tent and varied and unexcelled beauty. Prominent among the special points of interest, and 
which afford objective points for a pleasant ramble, are Eureka Glen, famed as the favorite of 
George W. Childs, and rendered accessible through his liberal expenditures by a succession of 
rustic bridges and stairways, and Moss Cataract, Diana's Bath, and Caldeno Falls, located on 
Caldeno Creek, a little stream which takes its rise in the Hunter's Spring, a cool and 
sequestered spot far up in Minsi Mountain, though quite easily reached by a path. 

In the social life at the Gap there is none of the gayety and excitement which characterize 
our sea-side resorts, and there are few allurements for the votaries of fashion. All that is best, 
however, in representative American people is fairly represented. The daily life and occupa- 
tion are conspicuous in the absence of all conventional restraints, and are characterized by as 
much freedom as life in a country farm-house, while, at the same time, the hotel accommo- 
dations provide all comforts and conveniences. Delaware Water Gap is one hundred and 
eight miles distant from Philadelphia, and ninety-two miles from New York. It is reached 
from the former place by the Belvidere division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and from the 
latter via the Morris and Essex Railroad. 

Kane. 

Located in the wildest portion of Pennsylvania, on the highest summit of the AUeghanies 
reached by the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, Kane possesses superior attractions for 
sportsmen and for those who are inclined towards life in the forest, with all the comforts of a 
good hotel at the same time. Its elevation and dense hemlock and pine forest surroundings 
give it an atmosphere of peculiar rarity and healthfulness, very beneficial in cases of asthma, 
hay fever, and other diseases of the respiratory organs. " The country adjacent to this station 
is celebrated for the production of milk, butter and cheese — the manufacture of the latter 
article being an important industry, prosecuted on an extensive scale. The markets are 
abundant — game, mountain trout, and the luscious fruits of the forest being obtainable in any 
quantities when in season. Sulphur and iron springs burst forth near the hotel, and throughout 
all the region limpid streams and pools abound, filled with the speckled trout so attractive to 
fishermen, and in some of which the breeding and rearing of these beauties is scientifically 



1 




U^J 



PENNSYLVANIA RESORTS. 

carried on. The forests, almost interminable in extent, are intersected with good dry roads 
carpeted by the ca<t foliage of hemlocks and pines, and arched by their perennial verdure, 
where drives and walks afford unalloyed enjoyment. Deer are frequently seen browsing on 
the herbage or bounding through the woods; rabbits scamper along the roads; pheasants 
awaken the echoes with their drumming, and silent woodcock whirl away from approaching 
humanity to seek more secluded retreats. Sportsmen can always procure safe, experienced 
guides to pilot them where guns and rods can be brought into active play, and the lover of 
nature can find many places to pause at, and scenes to remember." The "Thompson House " 
at this station, is a large and very superior hotel, elaborately furnished, combining all the 
comforts of the finest summer resorts. Kane is reached from Washington and Baltimore via 
the Northern Central Railroad, connecting at Williamsport with the Philadelphia and Erie. 
From Philadelphia and New York take Pennsylvania Railroad. 

RenoYo. 

Another of the seductive spots in the Alleghany forest, on the line of the Philadelphia and 
Erie Railroad, is Renovo, which has lately become a popular resort, ranking with Kane and 
Altoona. It is delightfully situated in a little oval valley, formed by a separation of mountain 
ranges rising around it to a height of more than a thousand feet, through which the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna river glides in a placid and pellucid current. It is the location 
of the railroad workshops, and the industry centred here by these improvements is the life 
stimulus of the place, causing it to grow, in a period of about ten years, from an isolated farm 
into a town of more than two thousand inhabitants. The scenery in the vicinity is charm- 
ingly picturesque— in some localities rising to sublimity and grandeur, Renovo may be said 
to lie almost in the heart of the great pine forests of Pennsylvania, and the depth of those 
mysterious woods where the sportsman will find ample uses both for the gun and the rod can 
readily be reached from it. The hotel at Renovo, erected and owned by the railroad 
company, is large and comfortable, affording accommodations unsurpassed in excellence. 
Directions for reaching Renovo are the same as for Kane. 

Mauch Chunk. 

This is an extensively advertised resort in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. Its chief 
attraction is what is termed a "Switch-back" railroad up a small mountain, the cars being 
drawn by a stationary engine. The scenery round about is more or less interesting, according 
to taste. The Lehigh valley, in the vicinity, is generally regarded one of the picturesque 
portions of the State. There are two moderately comfortable country hotels in the place, 
both of which take summer boarders. 




I 



duF ^Btum\ W©r?deFS. 




" Thus Nature works as if to mock at Art, 
And in defiance of her rival powers ; 

By these fortuitous and random strokes, . 

Performing such inimitable feats, 
As she with all her rules can never reach." 

^? 

- ATURE in planning and fitting the theatres of the world was never more lavish 
of fine and startling effects, and yet never more harmonious, than when her hand 
placed the scenery amidst which the nations of the New World are playing their 
par* in the great drama. In this land of wonders are amphitheatres whose seats 
rise in tiers of circling ranges of mountains till lost in the clouds, with sweeping arena? on 
which Time may place the great tragedies of the hereafter. Here are all the accessories at 
their best and pleasure-spots innumerable ; here waterfalls where seas have thundered over 
mio-hty walls, and others where the stream leaping from a giddy height floats down a rainbow- 
tinted Bridal Veil ; here caves which might hide all the bandit bands from Ali Baba's down, 
and with glittering splendor of gorgeous chambers and sculptured grottoes surpass even the 
fabled homes of the sea-kings; immortal statues adorn the western platforms, and grand 
countenances cut from granite rocks look down upon the eastern plains. Romance may revel 
in wonders where Nature has draped the rocky walls and where sunlight filters down through 
green-bowered banks into glens and chasms filled with sparkling cascades, purling brooks and 
mirror pools; while the supernatural finds an appropriate ground where inky-black water 
boils and bubbles, where streams of hot water pour over barren rocks, where steam and gas 
and sulphurous fumes spit up in jets from the cinder-covered crust, where howling, tearing 
columns of steam and scalding liquids burst from the bowels of the earth and fall booming 
and rumbling back to the flame-circled throne of Satan, 

Where flow the mighty rivers beyond the Mississippi are reared the citadels of Nature. 
Here over thousands of square miles are mountains and architectural piles, stately and grand. 
Castles and abbeys, columns and obelisks, bastions and donjon towers, minarets and peaks, 
turrets and spires lie strcAvn along the course of an eddying, muddy, swift-rolling current, pent 
in between walls a third of a mile high, over which at intervals a newer stream drops, to fall 
affrighted and trembling on the rocks below. Everywhere perpendicular cliffs, the surface 
worn and eroded, polished curves and cunningly cut figures in varying shades of yellow and 
red. One region bare, rugged and awful; another interspersed with parks and gardens which 
shame the attempts of man. In many a picturesque portion the colors of the soil and 
sandstone blend as if laid on by a great master; mullioned peaks hundreds of feet above 
show a dreamy glimpse of the far sky; thousands of twittering birds find happy homes in the 
numerous percolations in the tremendous cliffs ; while as an ideal carpet or a gorgeous rug 
over wide fields are spread bowers and beds of flowers, whose beauty, grace and color art can 
never capture or words picture. Clumps of green, oak bushes, thickets of wild roses, tiny 
tufts of fern, the sweet clematis and the bright woodbine climbing down the very brows of 
the beetling precipice and nodding a gay greeting to the blue violets below; the red lily and 
the yellow colunibine ; the white spiraea and the mertensia with its pink and blue bells ; the 
kinnikinnick and the splendid, many-budded penstemon ; the glorious variegated gilia and 
the dear, familiar daisy. All these and a hundred others, the final loving touches to the mar- 
vellous works which, hoary from the hand of Time, are yet all but new to the eye of man. 
As a worthy addition to these wonders of our home are those ancient, sad and sombre groves, 
(40) 



NATURAL WONDERS. 



41 



stupendous pine cathedrals that never shadowed the shrine of a Druid or murmured amongst 
their sighing boughs the dread oracle of a deity. 

The Yellowstone National Park. 

The title of "Wonder Land," which has been bestowed upon that immense national 
reservation known as the Yellowstone Park, is aptly applied. No such aggregation of all that 
is wonderful in nature exists anywhere else on 
this continent, if in the world. The American 
tourist who goes abroad in search of curious 
things and natural delights before he has visited 
this marvellous region commits an unmistakable 
error. The Yellowstone National Park is situ- 
ated along the highest part of that great cul- 
minating area of North America which has been 
fitly termed " the crown of the continent." It 
lies, for the most part, in the northeast corner of 
Wyoming Territory, between the 44th and 45th 
parallels of latitude, and reaches from the iioth 
meridian to a short distance beyond the iiith, 
extending on the west and north for a it\{ miles 
into the adjacent Territories of Montana and 
Idaho. It is a region sixty-five miles long by 
fifty-five miles wide, and covers an area of about 
three thousand five hundred and seventy-five 
square miles; or, to give a still clearer idea of 
its extent, it may be said to be large enough to 
more than contain the States of Delaware and 
Rhode Island. This tract of land has, by an 
Act of Congress, been ''reserved and with- 
drawn from settlement, occupancy or sale under 
the laws of the United States, and dedicated 
and set apart as a public park or pleasure- 
ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the 
people" forever. The mountain ranges which 
hem in the valleys, rise to a height of ten and 
twelve thousand feet, and are covered with 
perpetual snow. The average elevation of the 
country included in the park isabout six thousand 
feet, which is as high as the summit of Mount 
Washington in the White Mountains. A fine gen- 
eral view of the Park is obtained from the summit 
of Mt. Washington, a central accessible position. 
It would not be possible to adequately portray 
in these pages all the wonders embraced within 
the confines of the Yellowstone National Park. 
Its most striking features are its geysers, hot ^^^^ 
springs, waterfalls and canons. In number 
(ten thousand, it is said,) and magnitude of its 

4 




The Giantess. 




(42) 



Lower Falls, Yellowstone. 



hot springs 
and gey- 
sers it sur- 
passes all 
the rest of 
the world. 
The gey- 
sers are the 
grandest in 
the uni- 
verse — 
grandest in 
the fre- 
quency of 
their erup- 
t i o n s, in 
the quantity of water 
they spout, and the 
height to which it is 
thrown, and also in 
the beauty of their 
delicately ornamented 
and often brilliantly- 
colored chimneys and 
basins, built up and 
adorned by the min- 
erals deposited from 
their hot silicious 
waters. They spout 
columns of boiling 
water of sizes varying 
with the dimensions 
of their orifices — from 
a few inches to twenty 
feet in diameter — and 
to heights ranging 
from two hundred and 
fifty to two hundred and seventy-five feet, 
the eruptions being accompanied by a con- 
stant succession of miniature earthquakes, by 
a terrible noise like almost continuous under- 
ground thunder, and by the evolution of im- 
mense masses of steam,- which roll up wreath 
after wreath hundreds of feet above the water. 
These indescribably magnificent displays oc- 
cur with some geysers at fixed periods, as in 
the case of the Old Faithful, which spouts 
from an orifice seven feet long by two feet 
wide every sixty-five minutes, its eruptions 
asting from four to six minutes. It is the 
only geyser in the world which spouts so fre- 



NA TURAL WONDERS. 



43 




The Lower Canyon. 



quently and with such unfailing regu- 
larity, whence its name. The most 
prominent geysers are the Giant and 
Giantess, Old Faithful, the Beehive, 
the Old Castle, the Grand, Riverside, 
Comet, and Fantail. 

Next to the geysers, as matters of at- 
traction, may be reckoned the Falls and 
Grand Canon of the Yellowstone River. 
This river is a tributary of the Missouri. 
Its nominal source is the Yellowstone 
Lake, though its real beginning is the 
head of the Upper Yellowstone, about 
twenty-five miles further up in the 
mountains. The vicinity of the source 
of the Yellowstone marks a point from 
which pour down to the Gulf of Mexico 
on the southeast, the Gulf of California 
on the southwest, and the Pacific slope 
on the northwest, the mightiest rivers 
of both coasts of the continent. About 
fifteen miles below the lake are the 
Upper Falls (one hundred and forty feet abruptly), while the Lower Falls (three hundred and 
ninety-seven feet high, which is two hundred and twenty-six feet higher than Niagara), are 
something over a quarter of a mile farther down, and at the head of the Grand Canon, whose 
brilliantly-colored portion begins near the picturesque Crystal Cascades of Cascade Creek, 

which, about midway between the 



two falls, leaps over the west wall of 
the caiion in beautiful cascades, one 
hundred and twenty-nine feet high. 
These cataracts and cascades would 
justly rank among the great wonders 
of the world if they poured into the 
most commonplace of gorges, but they 
plunge into an abyss more than twenty 
miles long, with walls from one thou- 
sand to three thousand feet high, and 
perhaps more, for the lower part of 
the Grand Canon has never been 
explored. This stupendous channel 
through the Elephant's Back moun- 
tains is all the way cut through soft 
volcanic rock, which has eroded into 
innumerable quaint forms. But won- 
derful as these falls are for their height, 
and the curious forms into which they 
have weathered, they are vastly more 
wonderful because, from the water's 




The Grand Canyon. 



44 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



edge to the top, nature has dyed them with an endless variety of the most vivid colors. 
Surely nothing like it was ever seen out of fairy land. Cliffs half a mile and more in height 
stretch farther than the eye can reach, a mass of yellows, from gold to pale straw; of reds, 
from deep carmine to softest pink, everywhere intermingled with coal-black and snow-white 
and cream, and buff, and brown, and gray, and olive, and russet, the pure blues, greens, and 
blue-purples being supplied by the clear sky, by the patches of vegetation growing in places 




Upper Falls of the Yellowstone. 

on the gentler slopes, by the evergreen trees clinging here and there along the walls or 
crowning the platter-topped towers, and by the broad pools in which the river lazily whirls 
and rests between the succession of cascades down which it dashes a mass of snow-spray, so 
shrunken to the naked eye by the enormous depth that it often seems a mere silver thread 
strung with emeralds. 



NATURAL WONDERS. 



45 



It is beyond the povver of language to portray the marvellous grandeur and beauty of the 
Grand Cajaon. It has no parallel in the world. Through the eye alone can any just idea be 
gained of its strange, awful, fascinating, unearthly blending of the majestic and the beautiful • 
and, even in its visible presence, the mind fails to comprehend the weird and unfamiliar, 
almost incredible scenes it reveals. At the foot of the Grand Canon Tower Creek empties 
into the Yellowstone. This wonderfully beautiful stream has its rise in the high divide 
between the valleys of the Missouri and the Yellowstone, and flows for about ten miles 
through a canon so deep and gloomy that it has earned the appellation of " Devil's Den." 
About two hundred yards above its entrance into the Yellowstone the stream dashes out from 
among jagged pinnacles and massive towers of almost black amygdaloidal lava, and pours 
over an abrupt descent of one hundred and fifty-six feet, forming one of the most unique and 
beautiful cataracts to be found in any country. These falls, which are about two hundred 
and sixty feet above the Yellowstone at the mouth of Tower Creek, are known as Tower 
Falls, taking their name, as does also the creek, from the columns of volcanic breccia 
surrounding them. Some of these columns resemble towers, others the spires of churches. 




Yellowstone Lake. 

and others shoot up as lithe and slender as the minarets of a mosque. So sharply cut are 
some of these pinnacles and towers that one can scarcely believe that they have not 
been chiselled by man. 

It must not be thought that the waters in the Yellowstone National Park are always dashing 
and splashy, and rushing and roaring like the water that comes down at Lodore. The country 
embraces lakes whose shores run off into hundreds of miles, and whose surfaces are as clear, 
placid, and beautiful as any on earth. Yellowstone Lake, secluded amid the loftiest peaks of 
the Rocky Mountains, possesses strange peculiarities of form and beauty, and is one of the 
most attractive natural objects in the world. This beautiful sheet of water is large enough to 
float all the navies of the world, its superficial area being about three hundred square miles, 
and its greatest depth three hundred feet. Its elevation above the sea is seven thousand four 
hundred and twenty-seven feet, which is but little lower than the high lakes of Colorado and 
Lake Titicaca in South America. It receives no tributaries of any considerable size, its clear, 
cold water coming from the snows that fall on the lofty mountain ranges that hem it in on 
every side. In the early part of the day, when the air is still and the bright sunshine falls on 
its surface, its bright green color, shading to a delicate ultramarine, commands the admiration 
of every beholder. Later in the day when the mountain winds come down from their icy 



I 



46 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



heights, it puts on an aspect more in accordance with the fierce wilderness around it. It 
contains several beautiful islands, and is of so irregular form as to give an uncommon beauty 
alike to its bold, bluff shores and its stretches of sandy, pebbly beaches. Its waters swarm 
with salmon-trout, and are the summer home of countless swans, pelicans, geese, brants, gulls, 
snipe, ducks, cranes, herons, and other waterfowl, while its shores, sometimes grassy, but 
generally clothed with dense forests of pine, spruce, and fir, furnish coverts and feeding- 
ground for elk, antelope, black and white-tailed deer, bears, and mountain slTeep. Scattered 
along the shores of the lake, and on the mountain slopes which overlook it are many clusters 
of hot springs, solfataras, fumaroles, and small geysers. At one point a hot spring, boiling 
up in the edge of the lake, has deposited the mineral carried in solution by its waters, and 
built up a rocky rim about itself, so that wading out into the lake you can climb on the rim 
of the spring, and standing there can catch trout out of the cold water of the lake, and 
without moving from your tracks, can turn round and cook them in the spring. 

Twelve miles down the Yellowstone the "Devil's Den" forms an entrance, like a hallway, 
into a rock wall, from which flows boiling, sulphurous water. Clouds of sulphurous, suffo- 
cating steam constantly puff from this opening. Here too, "Mud Volcano" roars like a 

tempest, and flings hot mud in all directions 
during an eruption. Near the "Devil's Den" 
is Brimstone Mountain, where pure sulphur 
may be shovelled by the cart-load. 

The Hot Springs of Gardiner's River are to 
be reckoned among the great wonders of this 
marvellous region. They are among the first 
things to claim the tourist's especial attention 
on entering the Park from the northwest from 
Bozeman, Fort Ellis, and the Bottler Brothers' 
ranch. Below Tower Falls and the mouth of 
the Grand Canon, at the lower end of what is 
known as the Third Caiion, Gardiner's River, 
a mountain torrent twenty yards wide, cuts 
through a deep and gloomy gorge and enters 
the Yellowstone. At this point the Yellowstone 
shrinks to half its usual size, losing itself among 
huge granite boulders, which choke up the stream and create alternate pools and rapids 
swarming with trout. Worn into fantastic forms by the washing water these immense rock- 
masses give an aspect of peculiar wildness to the scenery. But the crowning wonder of this 
region is the group of hot springs on the slope of a mountain four miles up the valley of 
Gardiner's River. The level or terrace upon which the principal active springs are located is 
about midway up the sides of the mountain. " G. H. B.," the famous newspaper corres- 
pondent, who spent the latter part of April and first days of May of this year in the 
Yellowstone Park, writes as follows of the Hot Springs and other grand and grotesquely 
beautiful freaks of Nature in this region : " By an ascending pathway we reached a plateau 
of dead-level tableland, from which is gained a full view of the sixty-seven springs in the 
valley. White terraces frosted with the salt crystals gleam in the sunshine. The terraces are 
fourteen in number, rising from the river. Here and there columns of steam and jets of 
boiling water are flung high in mid-air from their caldrons below. Singularly, the hottest 
spring is found upon the highest terrace. The gorge in which they are located is 1000 feet 
above the level of the Gardiner River. These springs, bubbling and boiling in their basins. 




First Boat on Yellowstone Lake. 



NATURAL ]VONDERS. 



47 



have washed deposits of lime from terrace to terrace, forming great reservoirs rimmed with 
delicate lime lacework, and hung with strands of seeming ivory beads; crystal formations in 
brilliant coloring, luminous tints and shades, terraces and pools frosted like lacework, keep 
the eye dancing and the imagination at fever heat. As if placed there by art, a central spring 
adorns each terrace. These are surrounded by a large basin, over the rim of which the water 
flows down the declivity, forming hundreds of reservoirs, their margins fringed with 
exquisite tracery, like lace and bead-work. To these add glittering stalagmites, stalac- 
tites, and grottoes, painted with the colors of the rainbow, brilliant and fresh, and 
you are in the presence of a scene such as the world nowhere else holds. 

The drawbacks to visiting 
this interesting region are 
twofold : the tediousness 
and great expense of the 
trip, and the lack of accom- 
modations when there. It 
is a long journey from any 
part of the East to Yellow- 
stone Park, and i^ndered 
more difficult, tiresome and 
J expensive by reason of the 
long stage-ride beyond the 
railway terminus. By way 
of the Union Pacific route 
tourists are obliged to change 
at Ogden to the Utah and 
Northern Railroad, which 
takes them to Beaver Canon. 
From this point there is two 
or three days of staging over a distance of no miles to the Fire- 
hole Basin. Stage fare for the round trip is $25. By the 
North Pacific route the railway stops at Livingston, whence 
there is also two or three days' staging to the northern boundary 
of the Park. When all this is overcome there is little chance 
of living comfortably while seeing the wonders of the locality, 
except for parties who combine in sufficient strength to provide 
their own commissary and camping facilities, which involves great 
expense. The scheme of Uncle Rufus Hatch and his company 
of speculators to get possession of the Park with enormous 
privileges was partially frustrated by Congress. The company, however, did obtain from the 
Secretary of the Interior a lease of ten acres, in selected tracts, upon which hotels will 
be erected some time this year. This, with the further extension of the North Pacific 
road towards the Park may make the tour one of somewhat less difficulty after this season. 

Niagara Falls. 

Probably a larger proportion of people have seen Niagara than any other "wonder" of 
this continent. It has been admired, and written about, and wondered at, since the American 
colonies were first settled until to say anything new or fresh concerning it has become a task 
of exceeding difficulty. In a lecture recently delivered in New York, Rev. Robert Collyer 




48 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



Stated that he had in his possession a book written by an Englishman, describing his visit to 
the falls eighty years ago. Such was the world-wide fame of the wonderful cataract that no 
foreign tourist, even then, considered that he had seen one-half the wonders of this wonder 
fill country without a visit to the falls. The trip up the Hudson took four days, and the writer 
of the book had among his fellow-tourists an aristocratic federalist— for there were aristocrats 
in those days-and a clergyman, who was very drunk. It took from the 2d of July till the 
23d of August to reach the falls, and the end of the trip was made by following an Indian 
trail The grandeur of the falls compensated for all the pains, and was the only thing the 
irascible Englishman did not grumble at during the long journey. Such was Niagara at the 
beginning of the century. ^ 




•'■sM, «?ei 







Niagara Falls. 



h^n',/'"!, '?™' ''""°' "^ described. Its dimensions may be given-its height, and 
breadth, and volume told-but still much is lacking. Words cannot convey an adequate 
unawrr °f "^f P^'^dousness. Charles Dickens, when he first visited America, felt himself 

"Wenl ' /'T'- """^ """' "''''"'^'^ ''" "o^"™")' *«'=W"g his emotions, 

imm d^aM "Tf 'T J" ' '■"" ''"y'>°<- he ^y^. "^"t -ere crossing the swollen river 
L uth i't T TT"''- ' "'«''" '° ''"' "''^'" '•''=''; hut I was in a manner stunned, 

and look d '°7r'""^ *' ™='"^" "' "''= ^«"- " ™= "°' "■"" I came on Table Rock 
and looked-great heavens! on what a fall of bright green water-that it came upon me in 



NATURAL WONDERS. 40 

its full might and majesty. Niagara was at once stamped upon my heart, an image of beauty, 
to remain there changeless and indelible until its pulses cease to beat forever. I think in every 
quiet season now, still do those waters roll and leap and roll and tumble all day long ; still 
are the rainbows spanning them a hundred feet below. Still, when the sun is on them, do 
they shine and glow like molten gold. Still, when the day is gloomy, do they fall like snow, 
or seem to crumble away like the front of a great chalk cliff, or roll down the rock like dense 
white smoke. But always does the mighty stream appear to die as it comes down, and always 
from the unfathomable grave arises that tremendous ghost of spray and mist which is never 
laid." 

Niagara Falls are situated on the Niagara River, nearly midway between Lake Erie and 
Lake Ontario. About a mile above the cataract the river is one continuation of rapids, which 
finally terminate in a perpendicular fall of 164 feet on the American side and 158 on the 
Canadian. Goat Island, a quarter of a mile wide and half a mile in length, extends to the 
very brow of the precipice, dividing the falls into two portions, the higher of which is on the 
American side, while the greater width is on the Canada side. The volume of water which 
constantly pours over this immense precipice and the power with which it sweeps everything 
before it is appalling. No living thing has ever been known to go over and come out of the 
whirlpool below alive. A pine board floated over soon comes to the surface in .splinters. 
About fifty years ago a vessel loaded with live animals went over the falls, and such was the 
eagerness of the sojourners at the hotels to see the sight that many of them jumped up from 
their dinners and forgot to return to pay their bills. The deep green color of the water and 
the effect in contrast with the white foam cannot be portrayed with pen, nor scarcely with 
painter's brush, though Church's famous picture in the Corcoran Gallery at Washington is 
marvellously near to it. A beautiful bright rainbow rests above the water a few rods below 
the whirlpool, where the sun's rays are reflected through the mists, and is visible from morn- 
ing till night in clear weather. Considerable changes have taken place during recent years 
by the falling down of masses of rock, causing a slight recession of the cataract at some 
points. Table Rock, once a striking feature on the Canadian side, has wholly disappeared. 
The chief points of interest to the visitor are Goat Island, reached by a bridge 360 feet long; 
Luna Island, the Cave of the Winds, a spacious recess beneath and back of the American fall, 
and the Suspension Bridge below. The old Terrapin Tower, which formerly stood out in 
the stream, 50 or 100 yards from Goat Island, from which a magnificent view was formerly 
obtained, became unsafe and was blown up with gunpowder in 1873. ^f ^^*^^ years the 
owners of property about the falls have fenced in all the approaches and points of interest for 
the purpose of exacting a charge for viewing them. The Legislature of New York has been 
considering means of getting control of the property to make it a free park for all time, as it 
should be. Niagara is reached from New York by the Erie and New York Central Railways, 
from Boston by the Boston and Albany, from Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia by the 
Pennsylvania and Northern Central, and from the North and West via the Grand Trunk line. 
The hotel accommodations are ample and excellent. It is a famous place for bridal couples, 
being equalled only by Washington in this respect. 

There is one certain thing, says the author of "Rambles of a Journalist," about Niagara; 
it can have no rival. Saratoga may become antiquated — the seashore a resort only for invalids. 
Fashions may change in regard to pleasure resorts. Rival locations may compete by oppos- 
ing attractions. But Niagara can have no rival. The flood will sweep on over the precipice, 
the waters will boil and foam, struggle and heave down the rapids, rushing on forever, and the 
roar of the cataract will be there forever. In all the world there is but one Niagara, and all 
the world will visit the mighty show. You may build up a city there, make long streets and 



5° 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



line them with houses, and crowd them with people; and strip it of the things that nature 
spread out all around it; you may construct canals and erect machinery, but still the great 
cataract will be there, and the world will travel hundreds and thousands of miles to see it. 
They will go to the brow of the precipice to look down., and to the base of the precipice to 
look up. They will involve themselves in the mist and spray for the sake of gazing upon 
the rainbow that is above them. They will ramble on Goat Island by moonlight, listening to 
the roar of the waters, or enjoy its cool and pleasant shades at noonday. You may roll your 
great water-wheels in their ceaseless rounds ; you may harness your machinery and set your 
great hammers in motion ; your hundred strong hands may hurl the ponderous sledge against 
the ringing anvil ; you may set your ten thousand puny machinists at pounding the iron and 
driving the spikes ; make all the noise you can — and the roar of the cataract will drown it all. 

The Caverns of Luray. 

The now famous Luray Cave in Virginia is a comparatively recent discovery, its existence 
having been first learned on the 13th of August, 1878, and not made publicly known until 
some time thereafter. The conical hill on the Newmarket pike, about a mile from the village 




Virgin Font. 

of Luray, in Page County, had long been known as Cave Hill, from the existence of a small 
cave near its summit ; but the significance of certain sink-holes and standing ponds along its 
sides and about its base was not understood or suspected until a short time previous to the 
date above named. Mr. B. P. Stebbins, a photographer from Easton, Md., appeared in the 
locality, and, conceiving the view from surface indications, that a cave lay beneath the hill, 
induced several of the villagers to join him in the search for it. Together they went prospect- 
ing about the country, digging here and there, without success, until they were nicknamed 
"cave-hunters," and became the objects of good-natured ridicule. Their fellow-townsmen 



NA TL 'RA L WONDERS. 



51 



declared they were mistaking rabbits' holes for mare's nests and jumping rabbits for sprightly 
young colts. But finally the right hole was explored, and a depression in the hillside proved 
to be the entrance to the long-sought cave. One of the party— which now consisted only of 
Mr. Stebbins and Messrs. A. J. and Wm. B. Campbell— was lowered by means of a rope into 
the pit, and found himself in a narrow rift about fifteen feet long by five wide, with no appa- 
rent outlet. Closer examination disclosed a hole, through which, with some difficulty, he 




Cathedral and Hall of Giants. 

passed into a large open space, now known as Entrance Hall. Having abandoned the rope 
which connected him with his companions, he surveyed for some time with rapt mterest 
the strange scene presented to his sight. The rest of the party becoming alarmed at his 
absence, another of their number was lowered in search of him. Together they returned to 
the upper world, and at night the party resumed their explorations with candles, getting as far 
as Muddy Lake— then a considerable body of water, since drair^ed and replaced by a dry 




Curious Stalactite Growthi. 



cement walk — by which they were 
stopped and left in ignorance of the 
largest and grandest part of the cave. 
These, briefly condensed from Prof. 
Ammen's work, are the circumstances 
of the discovery of this great natural 
wonder. About two years later the 
property passed into the hands of the 
Luray Cave and Hotel Company, 
identical in interest with the Shenan- 
doah Valley Railway Company, by 
whom numerous improvements have 
been made looking to the attraction 
and comfort of visitors. A handsome 
cottage has been built over the mouth 
of the cave, through which entrance 
is made, and in the interior cement 
•walks, plank platforms, stairways, 
and railings have been provided 
wherever needed. The tallow can- 
dles formerly employed to illuminate 
the cave have been replaced with 
thirteen electric lights. 

Entering the cave one is possessed 
of the feeling of having passed into 
a new state of being. Queer shapes 
present themselves at every turn, 
aping grotesquely the things of our 
past experience. Every object sug- 
gests some growth of animal or vege- 
table life, yet every resemblance 
proves illusive. There are glittering 
stalactites and fluted columns strong 
enough to bear a world ; draperies 
in broad folds and a thousand tints; 
cascades of snow-white stone; and, 
beyond, a background of pitchy 
darkness in which the imagination 
locates more than the eye can see. 
But shortly the visitor begins to ex- 
amine the objects more closely. First 
to attract attention is Washington's 
column, a fluted massive stalagmite 
about twenty-five feet in diameter by 
thirty in height, reaching from floor 
to ceiling. Stalactites depend on 
every side. From the centre of the 
roof one descends as aptly as if na- 
ture had designed it to support a 
chandelier. Passing on through En- 
trance Avenue there is seen a rounded 



NATURAL WONDERS. 



53 



bank of dip-stone, fringed beneath with semblances of dangling legs. Further on is the 
Flower Garden, a space inclosed with natural stalagmitic border and containing bulb-shaped 
stalagmites resembling bunches of asparagus, cauliflower, cabbages, etc., according to one's 
fancy. Beyond this is the Fish Market, where are distinctly seen hanging rows of fish — black 
bass, silver perch, mackerel, and, as the guide facetiously calls them, "rock" fish, and other 
varieties. The Smithsonian report says there is no difficulty about identifying the various 
species, some being gray all over, others having black backs and white bellies. The Elfin 
Ramble is a vast open plateau, estimated to be 500 feet in length by 300 in breadth. Still 
further on is Pluto's Chasm, the rift through which the god is supposed to have borne. Proser- 
pine to the under world. It yawns in a startling way, attaining a depth of seventy-five feet 
and a length of 500. At the bottom is the Spectre, a tall, white, fluted stalactite, covered 
about the upper part with a fringe of snowy draperies, and suggesting a meditative ghost. 

But it would not be possible in this brief article to describe in detail all the fantastically 
curious formations within this cave. There is the Crystal Lake, the Virgin Font, the Frozen 
Fountain, the Organ, the Ball Room, and a hundred other varied shapes and places, all carved 
out of the blue limestone by the action of natural elements. Large areas, embracing some of 
the most wonderful parts of the cave,. are not yet opened to the public. To quote still further 
from Prof. Ammen : "It is a task of recognized difficulty to describe the indescribable. This 
difficulty is enhanced, if possible, in the case of cave scenery, by the fact that the impressions 
it leaves upon the mind of the beholder differ, not so much in degree as in kind, from those 
of his past experience. A new order of sensations, ideas, and emotions demands a new 
vocabulary. The visitor who attempts a description must content himself, therefore, with 
seeking to impart his enthusiasm without hoping to fully trace its causes." The electric light 
heightens wonderfully the contrasts of light and shade, upon which cave scenery so much 
depends for its striking character. Under its glow the whiter formations shine with the lustre 
of pearl white, while the amber tints of the older and darker ones are changed for the color of 
gold. "There are," says one writer, "in these combinations of the picturesque with the 
statuesque, resemblances approaching at times the most advanced qualities of the sculptor's 
highest art. Indeed, it needs but a little play of the imagination to people these dusky cham- 
bers with conservatories rich with crystallized leaves and blossoms, with canopies of snow and 
ice, with crystal streamlets over which the glistening nymphs hum their peaceful tunes." It 
is impossible to estimate correctly the age of the cave or its formations. The rate of growth 
of cave formations varies with a score of circumstances, so that no general rule can be inva- 
riably applied. A tumbler standing five years under the drip of a stalactite was incrusted to 
the depth of an eighth of an inch. At this rate of growth, supposing all the conditions to 
be exceptionally favorable, a column one foot in diameter might be formed in two hundred 
and forty years. Under ordinary circumstances, however, it would perhaps require several 
thousands, some reckoners say tens of thousands of years. Dr. Porter, of Lafayette College, 
a distinguished scientist, in a recent lecture, quotes an eminent brother scientist as saying, 
concerning the Fallen Column, a gigantic formation weighing one hundred and seventy tons, 
that " four thousand years must have passed since its fall, and seven millions of years were 
consumed in its formation." This calculation is based upon the probable time which, in his 
opinion, it took to grow the vertical stalactites which have formed upon it as it lies. 

Luray is on the line of the Shenandoah Valley Railroad. To reach it from New York, 
Philadelphia, and the North and West take the Pennsylvania Railroad. From Baltimore take 
the Western Maryland Railroad. ' From Cincinnati and the South and Southwest take the 
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway. 



54 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



Watkins' Glen. 

A FEW years ago but little was known of this picturesque and'interesting resort beyond the 
confines of the county in which it is located. To-day it is renowned the world over for its 
wonderful scenery, and is annually visited by thousands of tourists, excursionists, and trav- 
ellers from this and foreign countries. The village of Watkins, containing about three 
thousand inhabitants, is beautifully situated at the head or southern extremity of Seneca Lake, 
within the shadow of Glen Mountain. Seneca Lake is oue of the most beautiful sheets of 
water in the world. It is entirely framed about with '' precipitous, black, jagged rocks " and 

clean pebbly beaches. There is 
not a rod of swamp in its whole 
circumference, consequently it 
breeds no malaria, no mosquitoes. 
Excursions upon the lake to its 
many points of interest, in addi- 
tion to the attractions of the 
Glen have made Watkins one of 
the most popular resorts in the 
country. The Glen is simply a 
vertical rift or gorge in a rocky 
bluff, some five or six hundred 
feet in height, through which 
rushes a mountain brook of purest 
water — now roaring and tumb- 
ling over rocks in foaming cas- 
cades, again plunging over ledges 
in beautiful falls, and anon eddy- 
ing about in quiet little lakelets 
in the deep ravine, down upon 
which from high rugged crags or 
rustic little bridges the tourist 
may look and meet his or her 
face in the water. The Glen is 
divided into sections, each of 
which is given a distinctive 
name in accord with some one of 
its many beautiful or strange and 
wonderful features. The division 
at the entrance, which is only a 
quarter. of a mile from the sta- 
tion, is named Glen Alpha, and 
the section at the terminus, about 
three miles above, is called Glen Omega. A short distance above the entrance to 
Glen Alpha, a narrow but safe bridge crosses the chasm, from which an excellent view 
is obtained of Minnehaha Falls, one of the prettiest cascades in the Glen. Farther 
up, at a point where the high and rugged walls draw close together, is Cavern 
Cascade, where the water falls over the rocks into a gloomy basin. The tourist has, for some 
distance up to this point been traversing a narrow footpath cut out of the face of the cliff. 
He now leaves this path and climbs the long staircase which crosses the chasm, and ascends 




Mammotli Gorge. 



NA TURAL WONDERS. 



55 



for fifty feet at an angle of ninety degrees to another footpath on the other side of the Glen. 
From this point the path leads around moss-covered boulders, along steep rocky slopes and 
ledges, up a succession of stairways crossing from side to side, until by an ever upward 
climbing other pathways are gained, pursuing which the stairway is reached which leads to 
the Mountain House, perched on a shelf quite overhanging the gorge. The gloomy division 
beginning at this point is called Glen Obscura, passing through which and by the Sylvan 
Rapids, across a bridge to the other side of the Glen the narrow gorge expands into an 
enormous amphitheatre, to which has been given the name of Glen Cathedral. Of the many 
remarkable chambers the Cathedral 
is, perhaps, the most imposing. It is 
an immense arena a thousand feet 
long with walls of solid rock rising 
perpendicularly to a height of three 
hundred feet, while the floor is almost 
as level as if it had been paved by 
human hands. Into this mighty 
chasm the waters spring with a fright- 
ful headlong leap, bathing the sides 
with feathery spray, then quietly 
spreading over the rocky floor form 
the lovely pool of the Nymphs. From 
the north side of the Cathedral, the 
Grand Staircase, thrown across the 
ravine to a higher shelf of the cliffs, 
leads to the Glen of Pools. Beyond 
the Glen of Pools is the Giant's Gorge, 
at the upper end of which Rainbow 
Falls, one of the most interesting 
and beautiful features of the Glen, is 
reached. The path passes behind the 
fall and leads up another stairway to 
the Shadow Gorge, at the head of 
which, by a pathway cut in the sides 
of the rugged rocks, Pluto Falls are 
reached. Here the waters pour down 
from a rocky parapet into a deep, 
dark basin. The especial points of 
interest between this spot and Glen 
Omega, are Glen Arcadia, Arcadian 
Falls, Elfin Gorge, Glen Facility, 
Glen Horicon, Glen Elysium, and Omega Falls. Besides the points and objects mentioned, 
there are a hundred others in this marvellous Glen, each possessing particular features of inter- 
est—spots where hours may be spent in watching the restless waters pouring down from rocky 
heights, leaping over huge boulders, or sweeping across smooth beds of shining pebble. The 
atmosphere in the Glen, even in the hottest day, is cool and moist. 

Watkins is reached from Baltimore via the Northern Central Railroad ; from New York 
and the West by the Erie Railroad to Elmira, and thence via the Northern Central, or by the 
New York Central to Seneca Lake, and thence by steamer to the village. 




Artist's Dream. 




iiiliilllllililiiliillliiiilililiililiiiisa 

(56)* 




" Here mountain on mountain exultingly throws, 

Through storm, mist, and snow, its bleak crags to the sky ; 
In their shadows the sweets of the valley repose, 

While streams, gay with verdure and sunshine, steal by." 

OUNTAINS are symbols of grandeur and sublimity. They have been called 
" God's eternal sentinels," because more than all else in nature they bring man to 
a contemplation of his own littleness and the awful extent of infinite power. No 
man can behold the aspects of a nobly-uplifted pinnacle or dome without realizing 
that his thought is expanded, unchained and newly-gifted. From the earliest dates in the 
world's chronology mountains have comrnanded the supremest worship and admiration, and 
profoundly symbolized noted epochs in the panorama of history and events. To use the 
words of Professor Winchell : " There is more in mountains than the novelty of the outlook 
from their summits. They stir the higher susceptibilities of the intellect by their magnitude, 
their loftiness, their grandeur, and the rugged unapproachableness of their peaks." They 
fire the soul with a spirit of veneration — they are the symbols of eternity and boundless power. 
They are the homes of frost, and silence, and mystery — the brows which bear the wreath of 
the clouds — the eyries of the lightning and the thunder — the palaces of infinite greatness and 
majesty. Every lover of nature is a lover of the mountains, and every student of science and 
natural wonders finds a workshop and a study amid their rocks and crevices. The botanist 
finds there his rarest flowers and plants, and the geologist his most valuable specimens. The 
pleasure traveller and health-seeker find in the mountains the rarest air, the sublimest scenery, 
the most enjoyable exercise, and in many cases the greatest benefits. Those who have lived 
among mountains are seldom contented elsewhere, and those who once spend a vacation in 
them look eagerly forward to another. 

He who first met the highlands swelling blue. 
Will love each peak that shows a kindred hue; 
Hail in each crag a friend's familiar face, 
And clasp the mountain in his mind's embrace." 

The mountains of our own land embrace every degree, from the " green hills " of Vermont 
to the picturesque Catskills, the wild Adirondacks and Alleghanies, the beautiful Blue Ridge 
and the lofty snow-capped Rockies and Sierras. While no writer can ever hope to poeti- 
cally create another Ararat, Sinai, Calvary, Pindus, Olympus or Parnassus, the time will certainly 
come when the fame and influence of our noted earth-giants, with their incomparable forests, 
and waterfalls, and domes, and lakes, will outrank and eclipse even that of the Alps, the 
Apennines, the Cevennes, the Vosges^ and the Cote d'Or. 

Colorado. 

Owing to the extent and grandeur of its mountain scenery, Colorado ranks first among the 
mountain regions of our country. The whole State is one vast summer resort, or tourists' 
home, and the stream of sight-seers, pleasure and health-seekers, which annually flows into it, 
grows larger year by year. This region has been frequently called the '"'Switzerland of 
America;" but there are so many localities to which this term has been applied, that it 
scarcely conveys its full meaning. By the concurrent testimony of travellers, the scenery of 
the Rocky Mountains is not inferior to that of the world-famed Alpine region in Europe. 
Yet there are points of difference, chiefly in the surpassing magnitude and grandeur of these 

5 (57) 




(58) 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 

immense Rockies and the wonderful canons 
among them, whose unique and even fantastic 
formations are unequalled anywhere in the 
universe. These river canons or deeply-cut 
ravines, that are found in all the more elevated 
portions of Colorado, constitute a peculiar 
and striking feature of the great Rocky Moun- 
tain system. In the countless ages of the past, 
the waters of the streams have worn channels 
deep down into the hearts of the mountains, 
leaving the perpendicular granite or sandstone 
standing on either side for hundreds, and in 
some localities thousands, of feet. Nowhere 
are the grand and wonderful in nature more 
effectually illustrated than in these mountains 
and caiions. There are no less than fifteen 
peaks in the State, each with an altitude but 
little below that of Mt. Blanc; and, in extent 
of surface, one of these great peaks exceeds the 
entire area of Switzerland. To gain some idea 
of the extent of Colorado scenery, let it be 
remembered that the State is larger than Great 
Britain, comprisingan areaof 67,42o,oooacres, 
of which one-third only is grazing or agri- 
cultural territory, while the rsmainder is the 
vast upheaval known as the Rocky Mountains, 
the ''back-bone of the continent," describ- 
ing a tortuous course north and south through 
the State, which ''covers more outdoors" 
than any other State in the Union except Cali- 
fornia and Texas. This vast area lies between 
the thirty-seventh and forty-first parallels of 
north latitude, and the one hundred and second 
and ^ one hundred and ninth meridians of 
west'longitude. Its average extent, north and 
south, is 275 miles, and east and west 380 
miles, the total area being 104,500 miles. 

Approaching Colorado from the east, the 
traveller makes a gradual ascent after leaving 
the Missouri River, and the eastern border of 
the State is crossed at an elevation of 4000 feet 
In the central part of Colorado the mountains 
form four vast basins, called parks,— North 
Park, South Park, Middle Park, and San Luis 
Park. North Park, with its area of 2500 square 
miles, at an elevation of about 9000 feet, has a 
north-central location. Just south of North 
Park ,s Middle Park, with its area of 3000 square miles, at an elevation of 8500 feet 



59 




Winnie's Grotto -NA^al Is 2000 feet high. 



Still 



6o 



OUR A AI ERIC AN RESORTS. 



south of Middle Park is South Park, with its area of 2200 square miles, at an elevation of 
9500 feet. The fourth Park, San Luis, is near the south line of the State, has an area of 8000 
square miles and an elevation of 7000 feet. In these parks are numerous small lakes, besides 
many beautiful streams and mineral springs, which are becoming popular resorts. The now 
famous Twin Lakes in Middle Park are, with a single exception, the highest bodies of water 
in North America. Some of the numerous summer residents of the locality have provided 

themselves with sail- 
boats, and enjoy the 
novelty of yachting at 
an elevation of 11,000 
feet. Hunting and fish- 
ing have also been boun- 
tifully indulged in by 
tourists fond of these 
sports. Game was, a 
few years ago, very plen- 
tiful, especially in North 
Park, which was the na- 
tural herding-ground of 
thousands of elk, ante- 
lope, deer, and moun- 
tain-sheep ; but their 
numbers are becoming 
considerably diminish- 
ed, though the pursuit is 
still sufficiently reward- 
ed to give zest to the 
sport. The Earl of Dun- 
raven, in his very fas- 
cinating account of a 
hunting season in Colo- 
rado, thus sums up his 
impressions: "In spring 
and summer the scenery 
and climate are very 
different. Ice and snow 
and withered grass have 
passed away, and every- 
thing is basking and 

sun, hot, but always 

Running the Rapids. Colorado Kiver. tempered with a COol 

breeze. Waterfowl frequent the lakes, the whole earth is green, and the margins of the streams 
are luxuriant with a profuse growth of wild flowers and rich herbage. The air is scented with 
the sweet-smelling sap of the pines, whose branches welcome many feathered visitors from 
southern climes; an occasional humming-bird whirrs among the shrubs, trout leap in the 
creeks, and all nature is active and exuberant with life." 

The mountains of Colorado are drained chiefly by the Rio Grande, the Arkansas and the 




MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



6i 



Platte rivers. The latter runs through the valley in which Denver is situated ; and, though 
this is said to be a country where rain seldom falls, and where agriculture is only possible by 
irrigation, it has several times gone on the rampage and caused great damage. The glories of 
Platte Cafion and the Grand Canon of the Arkansas have been most written about, but the 
walls of the Colorado and Gunnison rivers, in the western part of the State, are far more 
massive and wonderful. In many sections they rise without a break or an incline to heights 
of thousands of feet, and 
along the Colorado con- 
tinue in that way with hard- 
ly an outlet of any kind for 
hundreds of miles. Major 
Powell, of the United 
States Geological Survey, 
gives, in the report of his 
explorations of this river, 
the only graphic account 
of its wonders ever printed. 
The Grand Canon of the 
Gunnison is another of the 
world's wonders. Its walls 
on either side of the stream, 
and bordering it for miles, 
are usually not far from 300 
feet in width and are com- 
posed of stratified rock. 
In places their perpendic- 
ular sides, rising from the 
water from one to three 
thousand feet, terminate in 
level summits surmounted 
by a second wall of prodi- 
gious height, thus forming 
a canon within a caiion. 
Through the chasm be- 
tween these giant forma- 
tions and huge bastions 
and turrets, one above an- 
other, dashes the river, its 
surface white with foam. 

Outside of Denver, usu- 
ally the first point visited by 

all tourists, the chief places Swallow Cave, Colorado River. 

of interest and the ones most convenient and accessible, are : Colorado Springs, Manitou and 
surroundings, Boulder Caiion, Greeley, Idaho Springs, Georgetown and vicinity. Central City, 
Pagosa Springs and the Parks. Of course the mountain scenery is everywhere, and mining 
operations, of interest to many, are to be seen in every part of the State. The beautiful city 
of Denver, with its progressive spirit and metropolitan appearance, is doubly attractive after the 
long journey across the plains, and the fascination of first sight is increased on closer ac- 




■ ■mimiMW^M 



62 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



quaintance. There is a dash and animation about the place, with a finish and elegance that 
suggest prosperity, wealth and stability quite as much as the aggressive frontier. Denver is 
the best built city between St. Louis and San Francisco, and its growth at the present time is 
more rapid, and its prospects more brilliant, than any other city in the whole country. Its 
population is now about 70,000. The city is built mainly on ground sloping slightly towards 
the mountains, which rise so grandly along the entire western horizon, the line of vision 
taking in the "snowy range" and its outlying foot-hills for a distance of one hundred and 

fifty miles. The streets are broad, solid and 
cleanly, and are lined in all directions by mas- 
sive blocks, elegant residences, green lawns 
and handsome shade trees. The city is well 
provided with hotels, most of them first-class. 
The Windsor, the newest, largest and best, is 
equal to any in the whole country. Except 
for a few of the hottest days, Denver is a de- 
lightful place during the entire summer. 
Those who prefer a more rural retreat for a 
portion of the time go out to the Springs or 
to Greeley. At the latter place excellent ac- 
commodations are found at the Oasis Hotel. 
Nearly all tourists make Denver headquarters 
and plan their trips in different directions 
from that point. The next place in import- 
ance, especially from the tourist's standpoint, 
is Colorado Springs, the most beautifully 
located, cleanest and cosiest appearing place 
in the State. Near here is Manitou, known 
as the "Saratoga of the West," and within 
a radius of five or six miles are some of the 
most interesting features of Colorado scenery. 
At Manitou, which is situated just at the 
opening of the Pike's Peak trail, are located 
the most famous mineral springs in this re- 
gion. The waters are strongly charged with 
carbonic acid and contain carbonates of soda, 
lime and magnesia in various proportions. 
Broad claims are made for the medicinal pro- 
perties of these waters, the opinions of profes- 
sors of chemistry being quoted to the effect 
that they excel the "Ems" and the "Spa," 
two of the most famous groups in Europe. 
The elevation of this locality is higher than 
that of Denver, or a little over 6700 feet. There are splendid drives in all directions, and within 
a radius of seven or eight miles are numerous attractions and points of special interest, includ- 
ing the Garden of the Gods, Glen Eyrie, Ute Pass, and Monument Park. The formations from 
which the latter takes its name are among the greatest curiosities to be seen in Colorado. Pen 
cannot well describe them. They consist of a series of curiously-shaped natural monuments 
which have been formed from sandstone rock solely by the action of the elements, a thin 




Mary's Veil, Upper Falls on Pine Creek. 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



63 



Stratum of iron on the top having protected these particular pieces and preserved them. No 
accurate estimate can be made of the hundreds of years this work of nature has been in prog- 
ress. There are perhaps two hundred of the peculiar formations of different sizes and shapes, 
some of which are really fantastic, the whole covering an area of five hundred acres, in the 
midst of a perfect natural park. The Garden of the Gods is also a remarkable freak of 
nature, partaking somewhat more of the grand and imposing. It is a secluded spot, hemmed 
in by great rocks stood up on edge and on end. They are some of the more marked of 
the numerous evidences on every hand here 
of a grand upheaval some time in the past. 
These tremendous copper-colored slabs loom- 
ing up, some of them 350 feet high, are an 
imposing sight. Some look like enormous 
pillars; others are cathedral-shaped towers, 
the whole forming a scene at once weird and 
enchanting. The tourist in search of either 
health or pleasure may profitably spend many 
days or even weeks in the vicinity of Colo- 
rado Springs and Manitou. The two points 
are only five miles apart and connected by a 
narrow-gauge railroad, by which the fare is 
twenty-five cents for a round trip. The air 
here is bracing, and there is ample amuse- 
ment for the lovers of nature in the canons, 
grottos, mountains, and passes. First of all, 
there is that giant sentinel, Pike's Peak, tow- 
ering over plain and foot-hill, the view from 
whose summit is indescribably grand. Al- 
though this attains the enormous altitude of 
14,147 feet, by following the trail it can be 
ascended on horseback. On the barren, 
rocky mountain-top is a government signal- 
service station. To witness sunrise from this 
elevated position is an experience long to 
be remembered, as is the whole day's trip, 
for it is a laborious and tiresome journey. ' 
The spectacle of a snow-squall on this 
Peak in midsummer is a treat, and may be 
often witnessed from the Garden of the 
Gods and other points in the range of vision. 
Though the most famous Peak in Colo- 
rado, and seen at the greatest distance in all 
directions. Pike's is not the highest, Gray's 
Peak, twelve miles above Georgetown, being 200 feet higher. 

The most entertaining tour to be made in Colorado, and the one embracing the greatest 
amount and variety of scenery for the time and expenditure required, is from Denver by the 
Colorado Central Railway, now a part of the Union Pacific system, through Clear Creek 
Caiion to Georgetown, Idaho Springs, and Central City. These points with their surround- 
ings furnish material for weeks of pleasant exploration, or they may be hastily seen in two 




Island Monument, Glen Canyon. 




(64) 



Cathedral Rock, Garden of the Gods. 



days. Picturesque 
Clear Creek Canon 
has been often por- 
trayed, but it must 
be seen to be ap- 
preciated. Passing 
through it is ahnost 
like going into an 
immense cave. Its 
towering peaks and 
overhanging rocks 
are high above on 
either side,sometimes 
shooting straight up, 
with walls as perpen- 
dicular as those of a 
cavern, and almost 
shutting out the light 
of day. To stand on 
the rear platform of 
the train affords a 
grand sight, and to 
see the panting little 
iron horse twisting 
around in the crev- 
ices of the rocks, as 
it were, often ap- 
parently turning 
around to come back 
at you, is a most no- 
vel and exhilarating 
railroad experience. 
Idaho Springs are 
reached soon after 
emerging from the 
canon. Though not 
as noted in the world 
of fashion as 'Mani- 
tou, these springs are 
probably the best in 
Colorado, and the 
air of the locality is 
a perfect tonic, une- 
qualled anywhere. 
A (ew miles distant 
are those noted re- 
sorts, Chief Moun- 
tain and Chicago 
Lake, the latter being 
the highest body of 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



65 



still water in North America. The drive over the mountain to Central City, a distance of 
six miles, is a most enjoyable trip. 

Sixteen miles be- 
yond Idaho Springs, 
situated almost in the 
heart of the moun- 
tains, fifty-two miles 
from Denver, is 
Georgetown. It is 
not only picturesque 
in appearance, but 
unique, and will 
strike the new-comer 
from the East as 
wholly unlike any- 
thing he has ever 
seen before. All 
around are curiosi- 
ties and places of 
interest. There are 
drives and walks un- 
surpassed, with lakes, 
and mines to visit 
and mountain peaks 
to climb. In the sides 
of the steep moun- 
tain around and 
above the town, tun- 
nels and shafts with- 
out number have 
been dug in the ea- 
ger search for gold 
and silver, both of 
which have been ob- 
tained in the locality. 
Gray's Peak, one of 
the four highest in 
the whole range, is 
only twelve miles dis- 
tant. Tourists usu- 
ally make the trip to 
it on horseback, and 

those who wish to Devil's Gate, Vicinity of Georgetown. 

enjoy it to the best advantage, and to save themselves unnecessary fatigue, take a part 
of two days for it, spending the night at a cottage at the foot of the mountain. By 
this means the ascent can be made in early morning, always the best time. It is a 
hard climb up the narrow winding trail, where to look back makes one's head swim, 
and where a misstep or a stumble would precipitate horse and rider down the terrible 




66 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



rocky incline to almost certain destruction. But the magnificence of the scene repays 
many times over the labor and risk of reaching it. This cold stony summit points up through 
the clouds 14,351 feet above the sea level, and in the hottest days of August one requires extra 
wraps while standing upon it. Looking down hundreds of feet below may be seen immense 
snow-banks which the summer's sun has failed to dissolve. Resting over the tops of lower 
mountains are seen great white clouds, which from above, with the sunlight shining on them, 
also look like sheets of snow. For hundreds of miles in every direction mountain peak after 
mountain peak meets the view, snow-capped and rock-bound, "grand, gloomy and peculiar." 
In the clear rarefied atmosphere there is almost no limit to one's vision with a good field- 
glass. Denver lies 60 miles to the south. Pike's Peak, 150 miles distant, appears to be 
scarcely a gunshot away. South Park seems to be almost at your feet, while ranges of moun- 
tains in Wyoming and New 
Mexico are plainly visible. 
One of the most noted 
mountains of Colorado — the 
Mount of the Holy Cross, so 
called because of the cross- 
shaped snow-lines always vis- 
ible near its summit — is also 
readily seen. Victor Hugo 
tells us that "every condition 
has its instinct," and he who 
finds himself for the first time 
face to face with the Rocky 
Mountains has an appalling 
sense that he has not only 
overrated his individual im- 
portance in nature's econo- 
my, but has likewise under- 
valued the influence of inar- 
ticulate nature upon himself. 
Nothing can transcend the 
majesty of these snow-capped 
mountains! You gaze upon 
them in mute wonder until 
you grow abstracted and out of 
self into the idea of perpetual 
greatness. You do not think— only feel — and somehow the Eastern world that you have left 
behind, with its glitter and gloom, its envious struggles and manifold defects, fades into insig- 
nificance in view of this endless range of divine architecture, and you are for once an humble 
worshipper at the pure shrine of sublimity. 

Three miles up a mountain gulch above Georgetown is what is known as Green Lake. It 
is a large basin, at an elevation of 11,000 feet, filled with water 75 feet deep, almost as cold 
as ice, and of a greenish hue. The lake is half a mile long by a quarter of a mile in width, 
and overlooked on all sides by an impregnable mountain wall. The water is at times very 
clear and transparent, and in one portion of the lake is what the natives call a "petrified 
forest." The tops and dead branches of standing trees are distinctly seen, though seventy- 
five feet below the surface. In this lake the propagation offish is extensively carried on, and 




Sandstone Fornnations, Monunnent Park. 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



67 




the water literally swarms with beautiful trout and salmon. They are so tame that droves of 
them will come close to the shore and eat crumbs from visitors' hands. There are usually 
about 20,000 trout in the lake and several thousand young ones in the tanks below. To feed 
them requires fifty to sixty pounds of ground meat per day in summer, and a larger quantity 
in winter. No fishing is allowed, and an armed man patrols the bank at night to prevent the 
destruction of these pets. The object of this enterprise is to stock the mountain streams for 
food and sport. All the waters of Colorado are being rapidly depleted of their beautiful finny 
inhabitants, and fishing there is not what it was a few years ago. Over the mountain, about 
twenty miles from this locality, 
wedged in two ravines, the tour- 
ist will find the towns of Cen- 
tral City and Nevadaville. It is 
worth the trouble of getting 
there just to see them. The first 
sight of these ci«ties of the hills 
is one not soon to be forgotten. 
There is a novelty in the scene 
which attracts in spite of the 
general barrenness of the land- 
scape, the 
forest hav- 
ing long 
since been 
c o n s u m ed 
in furnaces 
and mines. 
Thus the 
numberless 
prospect 
holes, dump 
piles, shaft 
cuts, and 
tunnels, that 
scar the 
earth's sur- 
face, are all 
the more 
plainly visi- 
ble. Streets 
and houses 

stand almost in tiers one above the other in narrow ravines and gulches. The towns centre 
where two streams and gulches unite, and the main thoroughfare, over three miles in length, 
winds through and around granite hills. Far up the giddy slopes, on either side, hang cot- 
tages and mine buildings, seemingly ready to topple one on another. 

An excursion to Middle Park can be made from Georgetown in two days, and many 
tourists, who have the time to spare, avail themselves of it. A stay of any length in the park 
is best enjoyed by "camping out." It is a region best suited to J' roughing it," and the 
attractions are largely such as invite sportsmen and others inclined to that sort of life. For 




Gray's Peak. 



68 



OUR AMERICAN RESORIS. 



those who expect to spend several weeks in Colorado, this method of life is very desirable 
not only in the parks but in other sections ; and, while having its advantages in many respects,' 




Mount of the Holy Cross. 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



69 



is not more expensive, including the entire outfit, than living at hotels. Middle Park, while 
not a paradise, as often represented in railway and other publications, possesses many attrac- 
tions. The broad expanse of mountain scenery, unfolded from the passes of the Sierras or the 
valleys of the park, and the rolling prairies and river bottoms, with their luxuriant carpeting 
of grasses and flowers, diversified with groves of pine and aspen, form a picture but little short 
of enchanting. There is everything that goes to make a mountain ramble enjoyable, — cool, 
invigorating atmosphere, bright skies, good hunting and fishing, mineral waters, clear lakes, 
translucent streams and sparkling waterfalls. Once over the great Divide whose lowest pas- 
sageway is more than two miles above the sea, one can revel in the unrestricted freedom of 
mountain life in one of nature's fa- 
vored localities. Among the places 
not heretofore mentioned are the 
Pagosa Springs, which lie four miles 
south of the San Juan range, on the 
river of the same name. The chief 
attraction is a cluster of hot springs, 
the largest of which is forty feet in 
diameter, the water being exceedingly 
hot and charged with saline material. 
The celebrated Poncho Springs are 
located a short distance from South 
Arkansas, and are fifty in number. 
The locality offers numerous attrac- 
tions as a pleasure resort ; the scenery 
is grand and inspiring, views being 
had of Mounts Ouray, Shawano, 
Antero, Harvard, and Princeton. In 
the Wet Mountain valley, which is an 
old lake basin, lying between the 
Sangre de Cristo range and the 
Greenhorn Mountains, are three pros- 
perous townsj Silver Cliff, West Cliff, 
and Rosita. Professor Hayden re- 
gards the view of the Sangre de Cristo 
range, from the Wet Mountain valley, 
as the grandest in Colorado. In this 
portion of the range rise four peaks, 
all of which are higher than Pike's. 
Saguache, thirty-three miles from Del 
Norte, is located near San Luis Lakes, 
a large body of marshy land and shallow ponds, in .which ducks are found in plenty. 

Tourists may expect to encounter many interesting and almost irreconcilable freaks of nature 
during extended rambles in the Rocky Mountains. A writer of some note thus speaks of 
personal observations: "While crossing the 'range' which girdles North Park, one July 
day several summers ago, we were among snowbanks much of the time, and at night our camp 
was made by a great bank of glittering 'beautiful,' on account of the abundance of water, 
fuel and horse-feed in that vicinity. The bank was higher than our heads, and slowly melting 
under the influence of the July sun. At the very edge of the snowy mound we found straw- 




Camping at Flaming Gorge. 



7° 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



berries in full bloom, and within ten feet could be counted half a dozen varieties of flowers. 
Water froze hard in camp utensils during the night, and the customary white frost was every- 
where visible in the morning. Morning after morning, in our wanderings at these high alti- 
tudes, have we shaken the crisp scales of white frost from our blankets and looked around 
upon a scene of apparent desolation. Brilliant flowers of the evening before wilted into ruins, 
and the splendid tall blue grass that looked a delicious morsel for stock at sunset, was bent, 
and sometimes broken, as with the weight of a night's winter. But an hour of sunshine always 
changed the scene to one of springtime freshness, and often the flora, apparently most deli- 
cate, rallied first under the magic influence." An experience to be remembered by every 
tourist who meets with it, is getting caught in a storm up in the mountains. The rain-clouds 
do not overspread the whole heavens as in the Atlantic States, but pass over in areas of narrow 
width, following up the mountain spurs and chains, and often, when the rainfall on a moun- 
tain-top or mountain-side is suf- 



ficient to transform the tiny riv- 
ulet or brooklet into a raging 
torrent of water, there will be in 
the valley below, only a mile or 
two distant, continued sunshine 
and a balmy and fragrant atmo- 
sphere. It is a grand and glo- 
rious sight to witness a thunder- 
storm in these mountains, if you 
only happen to be at a safe dis- 
tance. Then, too, listen to the 
rolling, almost deafening rever- 
berations as the thunder-cloud 
passes over some lofty peak or 
range, and to witness the vivid 
play of the forked lightning as 
it flashes from cloud to cloud, or 
darts meteor-like from crag to 
crag, while you are basking in 
the beautiful sunshine, is glorious 
in the extreme. But to happen 
to be in the path of this rapidly 
moving storm is to get such a 
drenching as one may never forget. During the month of August these storms occur in the 
mountains almost every afternoon, between one and four o'clock. They come without more 
than a moment's warning, and there is no time for getting away from them. 

Concerning the climate of Colorado various impressions prevail and much misunderstand- 
ing exists as to the effect of it upon different organizations. It is undoubtedly variable in 
some respects, but two things can always be depended upon in the summer season — pure air 
and plenty of sunshine. As a health resort the locality cannot be recommended indiscrimi- 
nately for all sorts of people, with all sorts of diseases, as was done by interested parties a few 
years ago. To those in the enjoyment of ordinary health the sensations experienced in cross- 
ing the ascending elevations of the great plains, and in the higher altitudes at the base of and 
within the mountains, are in a notable degree pleasant. The dryness and rarity of the atmos- 
phere, together with its remarkable electrical effects, combined with other peculiarities of the 




Green Lake. 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. -I 

climate, excite the nervous system to a high degree of tension. Among the diseases which a 
visit to the Rocky Mountains will generally relieve, and often cure, are : Asthma, the earlier 
indications of pulmonary consumption, chronic bronchitis, certain forms of dyspepsia, and 
malarial poison. But it has been demonstrated that persons in the later stages of consumption 
go to Colorado only, in many cases, to die. Of the hundreds of patients of this class who 
have sought these high altitudes in the past some have found health, while many have sooner 
or later retraced their route in rapid decline. Any such, hoping for a cure, must not postpone 
too long the day of starting. And all persons in ill health are warned against making the 
transition from the lower to high altitudes too suddenly. It is always best to make one or 
two stops between Kansas City and the mountains. 

The drawbacks to a Colorado tour are the same as are encountered in all these long journeys 
to the great West, though "they do not exist in the same degree here as in the trip to Yellow- 
stone Park. There is no staging to get to Colorado, and there is, as a rule, no lack of accom- 
modations after arrival, especially in the centres. There are now four routes across the plains 
to Denver from Chicago, viz. : the Rock Island and Union Pacific, via Omaha; the Rock 
Island and Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, via Atchison and Pueblo ; the Chicago, Burling- 
ton and Quincy, and the Rock Island and Kansas Pacific (now Kansas branch of the Union 
Pacific), via Kansas City. The latter is the shortest and most desirable route. In Colorado 
railway fares are enormously high — generally ten cents per mile — but competition may in time 
bring them down. The fare between Denver and Pueblo, ii8 miles, has always been $\o by 
the Denver and Rio Grande, but the opening of the new Denver and New Orleans road caused 
a war of rates, and last year passengers were carried between the two cities for $\. 

The hotel accommodations throughout Colorado may be termed " fair to middling." In 
Denver the Windsor is equal to the best in New York or Chicago, as is also the Oasis at 
Greeley. At Colorado Springs, Georgetown, Idaho Springs and Central City the aver- 
age rate is I3 per day. The rates of the Manitou hotels are ^4 and $5 per day. For all 
tourists to the mountains camping out, with a "Burro" pony to ride from point to point, is 
the least expensive and most satisfactory arrangement. These ponies can be purchased, with 
a complete outfit, for $50, and sold after use at a small sacrifice. 

California. 

But for its great distance from the populous portions of the East, California would prob- 
ably be the most frequented, as it is the most attractive State in the Union. Though it has been 
celebrated in books, newspapers, and magazines for twenty years, it is really but little better 
known to the great mass of tourists than it was to Swift when he wrote his description of the 
flying island of Laputa. "There have been Americans," says Charles Nordhoff in his 
excellent work on California, " who saw Rome before they saw Niagara ; and for one who hS.s 
visited the Yosemite a hundred will tell you about the Alps, and a thousand about Paris. But 
I would like to induce Americans, when they contemplate a journey for health, pleasure, or 
instruction, or all three, to think of their own country, and particularly of California. There, 
and only there, on this planet the traveller and resident may enjoy the delights of the tropics 
without their penalties; a mild climate, not enervating, but healthful and health-restoring; a 
wonderfully and variously productive soil without tropical malaria; the grandest scenery, with 
perfect security and comfort in travelling arrangements; strange customs, but neither lawless- 
ness nor semi-barbarism." This is a glowing picture, but it is not overdrawn. It is undoubt- 
edly true that California has a climate unequalled in any other part of our country, and that 
the scenery of her mountains and the Yosemite Valley ranks among the greatest wonders of 
the New World. 



72 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



To most Eastern people California is still a land of big beets and pumpkins, of rough 
miners, of pistols, bowie-knives, abundant fruit, queer wines, and high prices — full of discom- 
forts, and abounding in dangers to the peaceful traveller. But the tourist of to-day finds that 
the conditions of '49 have passed away — that California is thoroughly civilized, abounding m 
comforts, luxuries and endless delights. After spending a few days in San Francisco looking 
at the strange sights in the streets and visiting the Cliff House to get a view of the harbor, the 
first place next visited is the world-famed Yosemite Valley. Of this marvellous valley, where 
the most exquisite pencillings of nature have fulfilled matchless conceptions, an enthusiastic 
writer has said: "Yosemite conveys to the soul of man, through the eye, what might the 
orchestra of Heaven, through the ear, were peals of thunder compassed into harmonious notes 
of music, then suddenly silenced, and followed amid instant stillness by 
nature's most tiny voice." Another, who had written extensively of the 
scenes met with in a tour around the world, upon taking his first view 
from "Inspiration Point," said: "Like a spendthrift in words, the 
only terms applicable to this spot I have wasted on minor scenes." All 

writers agree that language 
fails to adequately express the 
emotions felt or convey the 
impressions obtained upon a 
first visit. Standing upon 
"Inspiration Point," the 
tourist obtains the first and 
most impressive view of the 
valley, and one that will re- 
main ineffaceabiy stamped 
upon his memory. After satis- 
fying the senses with one 
rapid, general survey of the 
valley, the eye rests involun- 
tarily upon "ElCapitan," the 
monarch of rocks, and the 
most matchless piece of natu- 
ral masonry in the world ; then 
the vision wanders to the op- 
posite side, and takes in the 
beautiful waterfall known as 
the "Bridal Veil;" then the 
"Cathedral Rock;" then, 
back again, on the left, to 
the "Three Brothers," and, in the distance, the* " Dome," "Half Dome," and many 
other masses of perpendicular granite walls, majestically lifting themselves to the 
sapphire heavens. The valley, which is some six miles in length by less than a mile in average 
width, is about 4000 feet above the level of the sea, and is thickly wooded and scattered all 
over with floral offerings, rich and varied, and abundant beyond the gardens of wealth and 
taste. And, amid the transcendent grandeur of the valley, meanders a stream as cool and 
crystal-like as the upper fields of imperishable snow and ice from which it takes its source. 
On the crest of the mountains, and at their base, and all along the mountain trails, "gush 
frequent springs for the thirst of the traveller, shooting their sparkling rills across his path as 




Bridal Veil Falls, Yosemite Valley. 



MO UNTA JN KESOR TS. 



73 



soon as his lips are parched, and inviting him to stoop and drink of a nectar cool with dis- 
solving snows." 

The most attractive and beautiful object in the Valley, from March until July, is said by 
Major Truman, in his recent guide-book, to be the Yosemite Falls. The name is Indian and 
signifies large grizzly bear. These Falls are divided into three sections, — first a perpendicular 
descent of 1500 feet, then 600 feet of cataracts down a shelving ledge, and then a final leap 
of 400 feet. Professor Whitney concludes a description of them as follows : "As the various 
portions of the Falls are nearly in one vertical plane, the effect of the whole is nearly as grand, 
and perhaps even more picturesque, than it would be if the descent were made in one leap 
from the top of the cliff to the level of the Valley. Nor is the grandeur or beauty of the fall 
perceptibly diminished by even a very considerable diminution of the quantity of water from 
its highest stage. One of the most striking features of the Yosemite Falls is the vibration of 




Three Brothers, Yosemite Valley. 

the upper portion from one side to the other, under the varying pressure of the wind, which 
acts with immense force on so long a column. The descending mass of water is too great to 
allow of its being entirely broken up into spray; but it widens out very much towards the 
bottom — probably as much as 300 feet, at high water, the space through which it moves being 
fully three times as wide. This vibratory motion of the Yosemite and Bridal Veil Falls is 
something peculiar, and not observed in any others, so far as known ; the effect of it is 
indescribably grand, especially under the magical illumination of the full moon." The gem 
of the Valley is Mirror Lake, which, in order to see the reflections, must be visited early in 
the day. Major Truman thus describes a recent view of it: "We shall never forget the 
last time we visited this lovely spot. Neither the glowing harmony of Byron nor the exquisite 
pencil of Raphael could have adequately delineated the incomparable splendor of that radiant 
scene. The sapphire heavens were untouched by atmospheric speck, and there was an 

6 



74 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



ineffable beatitude in tlie deliciousness of tlie air. The Half Dome, with its storm-written 
hieroglyphics, stood above us in the sky and beneath us in the water, and we watched 
impatiently for the appearance of the imperial orb which had really dazzled us from our 
comfortable beds two hours before. At half past six o'clock a marvellous maze of opalescent 
cirra came suddenly over the summit, and chased each other rapidly across the silent lake; 
then followed processions of cumuli In pink, purple, crimson, violet, emerald, orange and 
dun ; and then came the king of day in gorgeous state ; and we gazed at it for some time in 
the waters as it flung its way triumphantly across its magnificently-frescoed track." But the 
attractions of this Valley are too numerous to be set forth in detail here. Perhaps the best 
known, and ranking with Mirror Lake among the most beautiful objects it contains, is the 
Bridal Veil Fall. To obtain an idea of it fancy a sheet of milk-white foam, seventy feet 
across, falling with a slight outward curve one thousand feet sheer descent, shattered into 




Lake Tahoe. 

spray near the foot and on the sides, which is blown about by the wind, and thrown back by 
the rebound till the base of the fall is quite hidden — then imagine the sun shining through 
this boiling mass of foam and mist, and watch the rainbows spanning the stream in concentric 
circles, as vivid as strips of brilliant ribbon, rainbows on each side, broken rainbows quivering 
down and others rising to meet them, every neighboring bush crowned with rainbows, and 
even the turf for rods around glowing with the richest colors, and all these shifting, changing, 
blazing, fading and forming again. Professor Whitney says of it: "The effect of the fall, 
as everywhere seen from {he Valley, is as if it were 900 feet in vertical height, its base being 
concealed by the trees which surround it. The quantity of water in the Bridal Veil P'all 
varies greatly with the season. In May and June the amount is generally at the maximum, 
and it gradually decreases as the summer advances. The effect, however, is finest when the 
body of watej- is not too heavy, since then the swaying from side to side, anti the waving 



MO UN7A IN RESOR TS. 



75 



under the varying pressure of the wind as it strike? the long column of water, is more marked. 
As seen from a distance at such times, it seems to flutter like a white veil, producing an 
indescribably beautiful effect. The name 'Bridal Veil' is poetical, but fairly appropriate. 
The stream which supplies this fall, at the highest stage of water, divides at the base into a 
dozen streamlets, several of which are only just fordable on horseback." Merced River is a 
pretty stream, which takes its source from the snows and lakes of the high Sierra, and dashes 
down into the Valley from innumerable cascades and waterfalls. Its banks are adorned by 
pine, fir, alder, spruce, poplar, and manzansta, and during the spring and summer months 
with myriads of flowering 
plants and shrubs. During 
the months of May, June, 
and July, in particular, I he 
California lilac, mariposa, aza- 
lea, and an infinite variety of 
smaller wild flowers are in full 
bloom and perfection, dis- 
playing all the rich colors of 
an Axminster, and which, 
interwoven with the emerald 
groves which enliven the banks 
of the Merced, constitute a 
piece of mosaic unrivalled in 
nature or art. The balsamic 
odors which escape the pines 
and firs, add spice to the fra- 
grance of the azalea and lilac, 
which freight the atmosphere 
with their aromatic sweets. 

The Yosemite Valley is sit- 
uated about 150 miles in an 
almost easterly direction from 
San Francisco, and nearly 
midway of the State from 
north to south. It was for 
many years the rendezvous or 
permanent abiding-place of 
hostile Indians, who had a 
legend for every point of inter- 
est, whether water or rock. 
The place wa^ first seen in 1850 
by a number of white men who had formed themselves into a military company to punish or 
compel peace with bands of murderous Indians. An expedition under Captain Boling invaded 
the aboriginal stronghold and obtained possession, only to be in turn annihilated some time 
later. After peace had been secured the Valley was occasionally visited by plucky tourists who 
had heard of its wonders from the soldiers. In 1855 J. M. Hutchings, publisher of the Cali- 
fornia Magazine, being engaged in gathering materials for the illustration of California scenery, 
organized an expedition which really made the first party of tourists to visit the Valley, and 
which makes Mr. Hutchings's name inseparably connected with it. During the year 1856 a 




Rounding Cape Horn. 

FROM NORDHOFF'S CALIFORNIA, PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROS. 



^6 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



trail was made into the Valley on the Mariposa side, and the first hotel was openedjn i857> 
when regular pleasure travel commenced. Many men eminent in the pursuit oO science have 
made careful geological studies and examinations of the Valley, and have arrived at different 
theories regarding its formation. Some pretend to trace it to glacial disturbances; others 
claim that it is the result of erosion ; while still others adopt the theory that it is the result 
of a vast rent or fissure. Major Truman says that none of these theories are well sustained 
but that the most natural as well as the most popular explanation of the formation is that 
during some convulsion of nature, "or something else of that kind," its bottom fell out. 
All tourists, explorers and geologists agree that the scenery of the Yosemite is of a type 
l)eculiar and unique. 




Boating on Donner Lake. 

KKO.M NORDIIOFF'S CALIFORNIA , PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROS. 

The Other attractions of California are its geysers, mountains, lakes, and big trees. Perhaps 
the Geysers, situated in Sonoma County, loo miles from San Francisco, are, partly owing to 
their accessibility and partly on account of their fame as objects of wonder, more generally 
visited than any other Pacific Coast attractions, the Yosemite excepted. From the largest to 
the smallest, from the " Steamboat " to the ''Witches' Caldron" down to infinitesimal bubbles 
to be seen in every direction, from the mouth of the seething, boiling, trembling caiion to its 
head there are at least a hundred springs, of all shapes, colors, conditions and temperatures. 
On every foot of ground alum, magnesia, tartaric acid, epsom salts, ammonia, nitre, iron and 
sulphur abound, being constantly sputtered out from caldrons of black, sulphurous, boiling 
water. At thousands of orifices you find hot, scalding steam escaping, and forming beautiful 
deposits of snowy sulphur crystals. The tourist can hardly form conclusions from a descrip- 
tion of this Plutonian realm, this branch of Hades, nestling among umbrageous oaks and 
firs, this prodigious laboratory and olla podrida of liquids and salts. With its " Devil's 



MOUNTAJX RESOR TS. 



77 



Kitchen," its " Devil's Inkstand," its " Devil's Armchair," and its " Devil's Machine Shop," 
this " Devil's Canon " is a devil of a place, and the injunction of " Don't you forget it " is 
unnecessary. The fame of the big trees of Calaveras and Mariposa groves is known to every 
schoolboy. These enormous giants of the forest grow so large that theatrical performances 
may be given on their stumps, and stage-coaches driven through holes cut in their trunks 

while still standing. 

" The giant trees, in silent majesty, 
Like pillars stand 'neath Heaven's mighty dome. 
'Twould seem that, perched upon their topmost branch, 
With outstretched finger man might touch the stars." 




Observation Car. 

FROM NOKHHOFF'S CALIFORNIA, PUBLISHED BY IIARPP:R A BROS. 

Hittell, in his ''Resources of California," says: "One of the trees which is down — the 
Father of the Forest— must have been four hundred and fifty feet high and forty feet in dia- 
meter. In 1853 one of the largest trees, ninety-two feet in circumference and over three 
hundred feet high, was cut down. Five men worked twenty-five days in felling it, using large 
augers. According to Mr. Hutchings's statement, the Calaveras Grove of Big Trees was the 
first one discovered by white men, and the date was the spring of 1852. The person who 
first stumbled on these vegetable monsters was Mr. A. T. Dowd, a hunter employed by the 
Union Water Company to supply the men in their employ with fresh meat, while digging a 
canal to bring the water down to Murphy's. According to the accounts, the discoverer found 
that his story gained so little credence among the workmen that he was obliged to resort to a 
ruse to get them to where the trees were." 

Foremost among the lakes of California — of which there are many folded in the mountain- 
tops like emeralds in their setting— and ranking all others in point of rare beauty and situation, 
is Lake Tahoe. It is a magnificent sheet of water, twenty-five miles in length and in some 



78 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



places from twelve to fourteen miles in width. It has a depth of 1700 hundred feet, an alti- 
tude of 6216 feet, and is surrounded by mountains which tower above the lake from 2000 to 
nearly 5000 feet. More might be said of Tahoe, perhaps, than of any other spot in Cali- 
fornia—excepting, always Yosemite. There are grandeur and enchantment at all times in the 
scenery which environs the lake, and the panorama of mountain and valley, meadow-land 
and woodland, sunshine and cloud, as viewed from Tahoe City, is spacious, inspiriting and 
impressive. The summer sunsets upon Tahoe are remarkable for their great beauty and 
wealth of coloring, and are pronounced by European tourists as superior to those so often 
mirrored in Lakes Como and Maggiore. Donner Lake perpetuates the name of George 
Donner, an early emigrant, who, with his wife and a large number of other men and women 
belonging to an expedition, were overtaken by a tremendous storm of snow early in the winter 
of 1846, during which many perished, at a point upon the old stage-road not far distant from 
this beautiful body of water. Some years ago a well-known California writer produced a 
volume entitled "Fate of the Donner Party," in which he apostrophizes this enchanting lake 
as follows : " Three miles from Truckee lies one of the fairest and most picturesque lakes in 
all the Sierra. Above and on either side are lofty mountains, with castellated granite crests, 
while below, at the mouth of the lake, a grassy, meadowy valley widens out and extends 
almost to Truckee. The body of water is three miles long, one mile and a half wide, and 
483 feet in depth. Tourists and picnic parties annually flock to its shores, and Bierstadt has 
made it the subject of one of his finest, grandest paintings. Li summer, its willowy thickets, 
its groves of tamarack and forests of pine are the favorite haunts and resting-places of the 
quail and grouse. Beautiful speckled mountain trout plentifully abound in its crystalline 
waters, which reflect as in a polished mirror the lofty overhanging mountains, with every 
stately pine, bounding rivulet, blossoming shrub, and waving fern." 

The tourist who would see California at its best should visit it in the spring. With the 
month of June the dry season sets in, and vegetation becomes parched and dusty. In March, 
April and May the country is a: its loveliest. But portions of the State are latterly much 
sought as winter resorts. Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Diego, and San 
Bernardino counties, all in the southern part of the State, fcrm what is generally known as 
"Tropical California," a land 

" Where a wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows, 
And the groves are of laurel and myrtle and rose." 

Where luscious fruits of many species and unnumbered varieties load the trees, and gentle 
breezes come through the bowers. Much has been written of the influence of external nature 
upon national character. It is considered as established that extrem'e cold dulls the intellect; 
that extreme heat debases morals and enervates the body ; that the temperate zone only can 
produce a really high and pure civilization. It has further been noted that the people of 
mountainous countries are, other things being equal, superior to the people of level countries, 
and the dwellers on the sea-coast to those of the interior. The Californian, like the Greek, 
has every advantage of natural surroundings. He is neither dulled by extreme cold nor 
demoralized by extreme heat; he aspires with the mountains; he drinks in the many sounding 
sea, figuratively speaking ; actually he has something better to drink in his clear waters and 
the juices of his luscious grape. In other parts of the temperate zone men get more than an 
occasional taste of both the torrid and the frigid ; in California it is not so. The Pacific 
slope enjoys warmer winters than the Eastern States, and cooler summers. The nights are 
always cool ; the days never oppressively sultry. There are no violent storms of any kind ; 
the air is dry and invigorating. To reach California take Pennsylvania Railroad to Chicago, 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



79 



whence two routes are offered : the Rock Island and Union and Central Pacific, or the new 
southern route via Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and Southern Pacific. Either is a long, 
tedious ride, though simple holiday amusement compared to the methods of crossing the 
plains a few years ago. 

The Catskills. 

It is but justice to say that there is, probably, not a mountainous region on the globe more 
picturesque and varied and more nat- 
urally the home of romance and tra- 
dition, than that of twenty or thirty 
miles square which embrace the rare 
Catskills. If one approach them from 
the Hudson, his first glimpse will 
show Round Top and High Peak 
towering into the sky, with the other 
mountains gathered about them, as 
children about their parents. The 
ascent by the stage-route, from the 
village of Catskill, is so easy as to 
seem, at first, tame ; but the charm 
of the way soon disposes of any such 
sentiment. The fine, fuU-foliaged 
trees in Rip Van Winkle's dell make 
a pleasant period for the backward 
views ; the noble North Mountain continually rises 
before and gives dignity to the scene; vistas of blue- 
browed hills stretchout before to an unexpected reach; 
the walk up-grade is beguiled by the music of invisible 
waterfalls, while the tender sigh of the woods and the 
sweet breath of the flowers linger in the sylvan cool, 
and a peaceful spell broods on the dreamy outlooks. 



Eight miles 
ahead one steps from behind the large hotel on the landing and 
from the platform looks down upon a view as original as superb. 
The climbing of the mountain has been so natural and the ascent 
so cunningly covered by the hand of nature, that it is bewildering 
and delightful to be thus suddenly perched 2700 feet above yon 
distant shaving-like Hudson, and look down into this royal sweep. 
On one side mountains and ravines, gorges and dells, glittering 
waterfalls and shining brooks, all framed in the deep green of 
the grand forests, with here and there a touch of color in a clump 
of flowers. On the other side, sheer down at the bottom of the 
precipice, and at the foot of the mountains, the apparently flat sur- 
face of the valley spreads out to the Hudson, which rolls out its 
slender, silver length for fifty miles; here toy houses and tiny 
buildings, the quiet homes of those toiling farmers, who look like 
insects crawling over the plain below. The two opposed sections 
as sharply separated as if an express order of the Maker had placed " ~ ^ 

here the rugged and picturesque, there the fair and pastoral. ' l 

Further out, the forests on their summits serve to mark the line inspiration Rock. 




So 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



of hills stretching out towards Saugerties. Over the river the country seems to have been 
purposely placed on exhibition slope to show as much of the rolling surface as possible, while 
the horizon is circled by the Hudson Highlands, the Berkshire and the Green Mountains, 
which unite their chains in a line of blue that grows dim and distant in the gathering twilight. 
At many points in the Catskills one may from his bed see the sun rise a hundred miles 
away, glorify the distant summits of the Green Mountains in Vermont, sparkle on the White 
Mountains, light up the rich Connecticut plains, and then flood the whole ten thousand square 
miles that lie within the range of the eye. From Table Rock, on North Mountain, may be 
had a magnificent view of this landscape from one standpoint. From South Mountain, one 
may see the Catskill Pass and the peaks of New Jersey, while the ambitious may climb so high 
as to imagine he sees, beyond the intervening beauties, the city of Albany, — an anthill in a 




The Wittenberg, froni Mount Cornell. 



meadow. The mountains have pilgrimages innumerable, and exquisite nooks in abundance. 
In the region of Round Top and High Peak are the two lakes, North and South, whose com- 
mon outlet falls into a deep cleft, the first fall one hundred and eighty feet, the second eighty 
feet, and the third forty feet. The falls are seen to advantage from below, where the walls 
behind rise, rugged and broken, three hundred feet. The supply of water being limited, a 
dam has been placed across the verge of the cliff", and ordinarily a thin ribbon drops over, but 
at certain periods the dam is opened, and the body of water dashes down inspirited style, the 
curling spray flies back into one's face, and out amongst the big boulders, half-hidden by nod- 
ding ferns, the red-capped rubus and tender-tinted laurel bushes, the Catterskill bounds and 
sparkles from the cool, dark depths, to wind its devious way eight miles to the Hudson, which 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



8i 



it enters near the village. After an hour or so spent in exploring this fine glen, a delightful 
walk to the Clove, a mile distant, may make a charming period to the initiative excursion, or, 
if one choose, he may ramble a mile and a half to Sunset Rock, which commands some noble 
views. 

One of the most romantic resorts in the Catskills is Haines's Falls. In the first leap of one 
hundred and fifty feet, and the second of eighty feet, the water is churned and broken up 
into a white, angry mass, which continues in its downward course a quarter of a mile, in which 
space the stream is lowered four hundred and seventy- five feet. The way down from the foot 
of these beautiful and varied Falls is through the Kaaterskill Clove, a ravine so rare as to 
form a fitting station between the laughing waters and the plain beneath. Here are the 
curved aVid tumbled High Rocks and the Fawn's Leap Falls. The edge of these Falls sweeps 




Mount Cornell, from ^A/^ittenberg. 

around in a fine curve, that seems like a heavy piece of masonry work, while the water pitches 
thirty feet into an immense pit of granite. At the mouth of the Clove lies Palensville, a rail- 
road terminus, and six miles from the town is Plattekill Clove, reached by a rough road. The 
principal feature of this Clove is the Black Chasm Falls, three hundred feet high, A ride on 
the railroad through Stony Clove, some six miles distant, gives a good idea of mountain en- 
gineering, and shows some interesting and wild perspectives. Four miles west of the entrance 
to this Clove, Hunter Mountain rears its head four thousand and eighty-two feet. 

The most prominent of the Catskills is High Peak, six miles from the main hotels. The 
trip is generally undertaken by the venturesome, as the way is rough and hard, but the mag- 
nificent view from the summit rthirtv-eiarht hundred and four feet high^ of the combined out- 




(82) 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



83 



looks well repays the toil. The southern portion of the Catskills is not so well known as the 
region more particularly alluded to above, but abounds in lofty spurs, such as the Storm King 
(four thousand feet high), Cornell Mountain, Overlook Mountain, etc., while spots, like the 
Poet's Glen, Overlook Rock, Lover's Retreat, and the Pilgrim's Pass, are as charming as their 
names are suggestive. 

The casual mention of 
these points of interest can 
give no idea of the riches 
held in store. One walk 
along the Cauterskill from 
Fawn's Leap Falls to 
Haines's Falls will reveal 
such a succession of beau- 
ties that many a lovely pic- 
ture will linger in one's 
memory for years to come. 
Dewy rock grottos open 
into others beyond, and 
everywhere sweet moss-laid 
nooks, where fairies might 
hold carnival under the 
shade of the brightly dress- 
ed, immaculate iron-wood, 
the broad-crowned alders, 
and the swaying mountain 
willows. The air is laden 
with woody perfumes, and 
the smell of the junipers, 
the cedars, the spruces, and 
the balsams, that sweep 
away all taint of the far-off 
city, and infuse new vigor 
into the frame of the weary 
worker. It is the one added 
spell to the charms of the 
vistas beyond and the forest 
around, where the beautiful 
white birch coquettes with 
the dignified oak and smiles 
on the blushing maple. 
The banks and by-ways are 
pink and white with the 

bloom of the laurel, and the ground is spread with an artist 
rug of white pipsissewa trumpets, pointed with blue-eyed grass, and 
relieved here and there by clusters of pink ear-drops, maidens'-hair Haines's Fails, 

fern, the purple fox-glove, and many another delicate spray ; and down through these glens goes 
the Cauterskill, in and out, now murmuring around a gentle curve, and now breaking into a 
thousand rills at the brink of a precipice, to meet in a merry volume further down the brook. 




84 OUR AMERICAN RESORTS 

What coy glimpses of beauty open as the stream dashes on its course ! Nearly at the bottom of 
the gorge is a spot where one may sit in the shadows of the rocks, beneath the falls, and dream 
out a day. The sketches that many nature-loving artists have taken from this point tell but 
a part of the story one may read in the way of the brook, now silvery and glancing, now 
rainbow-hued, and waving arms of wind-tossed spray ; in the witchery of the trembling bowers 
of softly lit foliage; in the fresh colors of starry flowers painted on a background of green- 
fringed rock ; in the music of the birds, mingling with the song of the waters, when, over all, 
is that indescribable benison that rests upon one in the midst of nature's own retreats: 

" Midst greens and shades the Cauterskill leaps, 

From cliffs where the wood-flower clings; 
All summer he moistens his verdint steps, 

With the sweet light spray of the mountain springs; 
And he shakes the woods on the mountain side, 
When they drip with the rains of autumn tide." 

The Catskills are easy of access. Boats run daily from New York, the one leaving from the 
foot of Vesey Street at 8.30 a.m. arriving at Catskill landing at 3.20 p.m., or the traveller 
may go via the Htidson Railroad to Catskill station. From the North the morning boat 
from Albany reaches the landing at 1 1 a.m , or one may go by rail, as above. Omnibuses 
from the landing to the village. A railroad from Catskill to Palensville, where Kaaterskill 
Clove debouches on the Hudson River valley, saves stage-ride to those wishing to go to Pine 
Orchard, Round Top, and adjacent points. Another route is by the new Stony Clove Rail- 
road, which connects with the Delaware Railroad at Phoenicia and runs to Hunter on Scho- 
harie Creek, a distance of twelve miles. A stage-route from Tannersville Junction on this 
road leads to principal points. The mountains may be entered from the south by railway 
from Rondout to West Hurley, and thence by stage. A fee of twenty-five cents is usually 
charged at points of interest. The hotels and boarding-houses are numerous, and range in 
prices from ^1.50 to ^4.50 per day, and ^10 to $25 per week. 

The Adirondacks. 

The most distinctively mountainous section east of the Rockies is that tract stretching 
from Mohawk River on the south to Canada on the north, with the historic and beautiful 
Lakes Champlain and George on the east, and the clear St. Lawrence at the northwest. The 
mountains, to the number of five hundred, have been placed upon a plateau itself two thousand 
feet above the level of the sea, in five ranges, which cross in parallel lines from northeast to 
southwest, and rise in tiers toward the west, the highest mountains, Seward, Mclntyre, 
McMartin, Whiteface, Dix Peak, Colden, Santanoni, Snowy Mountain, and Pharaoh, all nearly 
5000 feet high, and Mt. Marcy, 5337 feet high, being in the most western, Clinton or Adiron- 
dack range. The mountains are remarkable for their uniformity in the matter of height. 
There are loftier spurs in both the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in the Black 
Mountains of North Carolina, but the Adirondacks have a higher average than either of these. 
In the valley between these ranges and mountains lie a thousand lakes, that mirror on their 
polished bosoms the steep and densely wooded declivities, and the stony summits above. 
Everywhere are these bodies of water, spread over a reach twenty miles long, or nestling in a 
hollow, pent up within the bounds of a few rods; in a basin in the raised floor of this region, 
fifteen hundred feet above the sea, or, as Lake Perkins, up in the clouds, three times as high. 
The largest of the lakes are the Fulton Lakes, the Saranacs, Tupper, Long Lake, Colden, 
Henderson, Sanford, Eckford, Raquette, Forked, Newcomb and Pleasant. Down the by-ways 
from lake to lake a maze of brooks and rivers join the waters of the mountains, flowing through 






MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



85 



the valleys, as the Saranac and the Ausable, in marking lines of silver to separate the ranges, or 
as the Boreas, the Cedar and the Hudson rivers, cracking through rock-ribbed courses to meet 
in a common band below, that winds away to the waiting sea. These latter views clearly 
define the southern continuation of the valleys traced above by the Ausable, while Raquette 
Lake, Long Lake, and the Fulton Lakes follow the depressions from the Saranac to the south- 
west. In' Raquette Lake rises the river of the same name — the river of the mountains; born 
amongst them and of them, the 
pride and beauty of the Adiron- 
dacks, it sweeps along a devious 
course for one hundred and 
twenty miles, and finally mingles 
its sweet waters with those of the 
St. Lawrence. 

There are half a dozen different 
routes into the Adirondacks and 
the Wilderness, and one may 
follow his fancy or suit his con- 
venience by travelling along the 
line of the mountains, or climb- 
ing across the ranges. At the 
northeast, the sentinel of the 
system is Whiteface Mountain, 
which looms up from the Wil- 
mington side, superb and grand, 
a mountain view rarely equalled. 
From the summit of Whiteface 
one looks out to peaks beyond 
and mountains about, over for- 
ests charging up the heights, and 
far down the valleys to the south, 
beyond lovely Lake Placid, and 
down at the north side of the 
mountain on the jagged, deep 
and narrowchasm, the " Notch," 
through which the turbulent Au- 
sable leaps in a series of rapids 
and cataracts. One might make 
a lengthy sojourn in this neigh- 
borhood, climbing the moun- 
tains to gaze upon the grand 
scene, looking at the Monarch 
himself from a boat on Lake 
Placid, visiting Paradox Pond, u^idian Pass. 

whose outlet at high water flows back 'into the pond, or exploring Saranac Lake, a 
beautiful sheet, seven miles long, and having fifty-two romantic islands, wooded to 
the waters' edge, where the hemlocks wave their feathery arms in beckoning to the sha- 
dows at their feet. A very pleasant escape might be made by going down the Saranac 
River to Round Lake, a pretty, island -dotted circle of water, over which at times, the most 




86 



OUR AMERICAN RESORIS. 



terrific storms rage. Tracing around the curve of the river one enters the Upper Saranac 
Lake, the largest of the Adirondack lakes, due vilest from Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, eight 
miles long, and from one to three miles wide. Some few miles to the north, past the half-way 
Clear Lake, and beside the mountain of the same name, is St. Regis Lake, one of the most 
picturesque of the group, surrounded by numerous ponds, on the outskirts of civilization, and 
connected with Upper Saranac Lake by the " Route of the Nine Carries." 

To the southwest of the section 
described is a region filled with 
all that can interest the sportsman 
or delight the lover of nature. 
By steamer down the beautiful 
Raquette to Tupper Lakes, and 
one is fairly started on the round. 
Into this Jake the Bog River, rich 
with speckled trout, drops in a 
charming cascade. Up this river 
and beyond several "carries" is 
the lonely and sequestered sister 
of the former lake. Little Tupper 
Lake, whose gentle waves lap on a 
precipitous and rocky shore. Then 
past a series of ponds and "car- 
ries" and the Raquette Falls to 
Long Lake, a watery seam in the 
valley for nearly twenty miles, 
from which one may see Mt. Sew- 
ard rearing his head above the roll- 
ing plateau between. Farther south 
the lovely Forked Lake and the 
final Raquette Lake, the home of 
a host of wild birds and beasts. 
This whole section, including the 
southwestward Fulton Lake and 
the surrounding chain of eight 
lakes, is rich in varied scenery and 
mountain fastnesses, and abounds 
with game. 

Opposite Port Kent on the 
Champlain and three miles distant 
is Ausable Chasm, a wild-and beau- 
tiful cut through which the Ausable, 
after dashing seventy feet over the 
Birmingham Falls and then leaping the Horseshoe Falls, flows between walls a hundred feet high 
and fifty feet apart, in a channel at places but little more than two yards wide. The chasm is 
made easy of access by a stairway of a hundred and sixty-six steps, and throughout the nooks 
and rocks and pools are guarded by rails and fences as in the similar Watkins' Glen. To enter 
the central eastern part of the Adirondack region one leaves West porton " Northwest Bay," 
passing Hurricane Peak, the Giant of the Valley, Bald Mount to the right, round-topped Cobble 



I 




Grand Flume, Ausable Cliasm. 

FROM STODDARD'S GUIDK TO THE ADIRONDACKS. 



MO UN TA IN RES OR TS. 



87 



Hill, and the Roaring Brook Fall?, where a mountain stream dashes over a precipice five 
hundred feet high, to reach the monarch of them all — Mt. Marcy. A hard climb up the 
picturesque trail to the summit discloses the most magnificent view to be obtained amongst 
the mountains. The great peaks filing away in splendid ranges, and rising and falling in the 
distance, lakes studded with green-fringed islets and encircled by dense, heavy-foliaged 
forests, river and brooks chaining the lakes in rare bands, glancing in the sunlight and leaping 
over beetling cliffs, great gorges 

~~ ~ I 



and wild chasms splitting 
through the flanks of the moun- 
tains or opening down into the 
bottom of the plateau. One 
must himself stand upon the 
lofty height and look out upon 
all these wilds, with the Green 
Mountains of Vermont and 
Lake Champlain in the fore and 
background, to picture the in- 
describably grand landscape. 

Coming up to Mt. Marcy on 
the other side and from the 
south, the most notable body of 
water passed is Schroon Lake, a 
delightful resort in itself. On 
this side of Mt. Marcy are some 
of the most prominent moun- 
tains in the system, and many 
noble views. The trail up leads 
by Avalanche Lake, a very high 
and lovely sheet of water, and 
that unique and stupendous 
gorge, Indian Pass, in the most 
savage part of " Conyacragu," 
or Dismal Wilderness. This 
section is the wildest and most 
difficult in the Adirondacks, 
explored only by the adventur- 
ous sportsman, who at any step 
may have to look along the bar- 
rel of his rifle into the eyes of a 
black bear, a wolf, a panther, 
or a lynx. In the centre of 
this pass, 4000 feet above the 
level of the sea, rises the Hud- 
son from the midst of rocky 




'>fcv':5^o-.'ii^ 



Ausable Pond. 

FROM STODDAED's guide to the AriRONrACKS. 

recesses, where winter lingers through the year, and close beside the source of the great river 
are the springs from whose cold depth the Ausable rises, so close beside, in fact, that "the 
wild-cat, lapping the waters of the one, may bathe his hind feet in the other; and a rock 
rolling from the precipice above could scatter spray from both in the same concussion." 



g8 OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 

In a brief sketch it would be impossible to enumerate the various points of interest and the 
many spots where the smoke has risen from camp- tires in the thirty years since the Adiron- 
dacks were explored. Suffice it to say that Nature has furnished the Wilderness in a manner 
to suit the most cosmopolitan taste. A party may find recreation and enjoyment in the 
neighborhood of the many good hotels, and pass the time in the orthodox pursuits common 
to mountain resorts; or a company of good spirits may don red flannel shirts and cowhide 
boots, and with guides row down the rivers and across the lakes, througe files of flags and 
grassy shallows, or shoot along the rushing rapids to float out into beds of the pickerel-flower, 
past banks lined with white and gold lilies, that load the air with perfume, and paddle at 
eventide toward some little bay over rustling rushes and spongy pads. Then begin the free, 
the joyous outdoor life. The axes ring out and the echoes wander through woods that 
mayhap never caught the sound before. The spruces, cedars and pines about contribute to 
the planting of the tent, and beneath the oak, linden, birch, poplar or fir the camp-fire throws 
out a ruddy glow. All about are the magnificent forests, with sturdy giants, jungles of 
undergrowth and prostrate monarchs that once sighed amongst their kind without a human 
ear to hearken. What a paradise for a sportsman ! To row out on some lovely lake by golden 
sands and patches of lilies, with the fragrant breath of the balsam and the pine in the air, 
and have the guide send the boat cleaving into a narrow opening overhung by bushes, and 
there in the lily-lined and gold-flecked stream of black, slow-running water to see the sweet 
vista broken everywhere by leaping, splashing, splendid spotted trout. Ah ! here and there 
they rush, cleaving the surface in hot pursuit of a dancing gnat, or jumping clear out of the 
brook to seize a passing fly. Then to come to rest in some steady pool, around a tufted bank 
and with the trees hanging out their branches overhead, uncoil the leader and cast out the 
flies, and as in a gleam of yellow light the hackle disappears strike down the pliant rod to fix 
the hook, and then play and humor and control the game fish as he whirls in his mad course 
around the pool. The fine lance-wood curves and quivers, and the silken hair whirls over the 
reel, but skilful management brings him at last to the surface gasping, to be scooped up in 
the landing-net and breathe his last at the bottom of the boat. To those who prefer the rifle 
to the rod the forests offer many attractions, and paramount to all, deer hunting. One may 
steal out at night and with muffled oar paddle noiselessly along the borders of a lake, till a 
dark outline ahead indicates a deer. As the lantern is opened the bright ray shoots across the 
waters and the animal looks up in momentary bewilderment. No one who has not at such a 
time held in his hand a breech-loader, and at the click of the trigger-seen the deer bound away 
in the line of the gleaming sights, can appreciate the thrill that courses through him as the 
sharp report rings out on the night air, nor the exultation that rises into a cheer, if the report 
is followed by the crash of the falling deer. All the caution and cunning and skill of an 
experienced hunter, however, are needed to often enjoy the pleasure. But without the hunting 
and fishing there are many ways of spending the days — exploring the nooks and corners of 
the lakes and ponds, running the rapids of some dashing streams, or admiring the grand 
scenery as it opens before the boatman. To know the delights of a savage life one must leave 
civilization behind, and in the heart of the wilderness drink in health and strength and be 
glad in perfect peace and forgetfulness. 

The White Mountains. 

While the Alps, the Sierra Nevada, the Yosemite, and other mountain regions may con- 
tain higher mountains, deeper valleys, broader lakes, more extensive vistas, yet there is nothing 
to rival the White Mountains in their infinite variety of scenery, manifold kaleidoscopic com- 
binations of natural grandeur, and landscape effects; the contrasts and brilliance of color. 



MO IJNTA IN RESOR 7 '.V. 



89 



too, varying not only with the seasons, but with the changing hours of the day. Their valleys 
and glens, redounding with historic interest, unlike the unoccupied forests beneath the peaks 
of the Rockies or the desolate glaciers of the Alps, have been the sites of towns known to 
many generations, and are still occupied by the hardy descendants of the ancient conquerors 
of both wilderness and a savage foe. The comparatively ready accessibility of this truly 
wonderful region, with its inexhaustible supply of rich material for every tourist, whether he 
crave sensational effects, high artistic pleasure, wild rambles, or grand solitude — with its 
stupendous mountains, hanging rocks and crags, crystal streams, verdant woods and meadows, 
grand cascades and roaring torrents, deep ravines, and beautiful valleys and lakes — renders it 
an inexplicable surprise that so many American people should cross the ocean to admire 
scenery most of which is inferior to this charming portion of New England. 




Mouiil Washington, from Faylan's. 

FROM "the heart OF THB WHITE MOUNTAINS," PUBLISHED BY HARPER i BROS 

It will be the endeavor of this chapter to hastily conduct the tourist through every way in 
this grand and picturesque region, and point out the principal attractions and places of interest. 
It may be noted at the outset that excellent hotels and boarding-houses will be found in every 
village and hamlet ; and at no place will the visitor find the country lacking in this respect. 

Occupying the northern portion of New Hampshire, and within a half day's ride from 
Boston, are these highlands called the White Mountains, comprising two clusters or groups of 
peaks, locally known as the White and Franconia Mountains, divided by table-land from ten 
to twenty miles wide. A ride from Boston via the Eastern Railroad to Conway, one hundred 
and thirty-two miles, will bring the tourist to this beautifully situated village, which serves as 
an excellent centre for many short and interesting excursions. To the visitor preferring the 

7 




Crystal Cascade 

"the heart of the white mountains," published by harper & BROS. 

(90) 



air of rural quiet to the social 
attractions and brilliant life 
of its fashionable neighbor, 
North Conway, it affords great 
advantages. Five miles to the 
north is the summer capital 
of the mountain region, North 
Conway, one of the prettiest 
towns in New England. It is 
a favorite rendezvous for ar- 
tists and the fashionable 
world, and very largely fre- 
quented throughout the best 
part of the season, which the 
Rev. Thomas Starr King says 
is " from the middle of June 
to the middle of July." The 
very entrance" into North 
Conway seems like the intro- 
duction through a beautiful 
gateway of mountains into 
the retreats of nature — grand, 
imposing, entrancing. Ad- 
xnirable views present them- 
selves on all sides. Looking 
up the village street Thorn 
Mountain is seen, behind 
which lies Jackson, and farther 
on, up the Ellis River valley, 
Gorham and Androscoggin. 
To the right the gentle slopes 
of the Kearsarge rise, with the 
silver-gray crest of the moun- 
tain towering to the clouds; 
to the left the Ledges and 
INIoat Mountain present them- 
selves, the abrupt declivities 
of the latter forming a fitting 
termination to the picturesque 
scenery of the beautiful valley 
beneath it. Following the 
old stage- road from North 
Conway in a northwesterly 
direction the tourist finds 
beautiful prospects all along 
the route as he passes through 
the Cathedral Woods, past 
the Intervale House, with 
Mount Kearsarge to his right. 



MOUNTAIN RESORTS. 



91 



Moat Mountain on the left, and with the most charming views opening into the Saco 
intervales. Soon Thorn Mountain is passed on the right, the Ellis River, the runaway 
from Mount Washington, is crossed, and the town of Jackson is reached. This hamlet 
is very prettily situated and a favorite resort, affording fine views of Tin, Thorn, Moat 
and Iron Mountains. The Jackson Falls, within the village, and visible from the highway 
bridge over Wild Cat Brook, present a pretty scene, the water being precipitated in glistening 
white bands over a high dark ledge into foaming pools below. Trout-fishing in the brook is 
one of the favorite pastimes of the many tourists sojourning here. Beautiful views of Mount 
Washington are obtained from the Fernald and Prospect farms, near Jackson. Between Jack- 
son and Goodrich Falls, one and a half miles below, the prospect is one of the finest in the 
highlands. The Carter Notch will repay the tourist well for the time spent upon visiting it. 
From here the visitor may take the stage for the Glen House. This hotel is at the very base 
of the monarch of the White Mountains, Mount Washington. Luxuriant forest scenery opens 
on every side as the traveller progresses into the Glen, which is three hours by stage from 
Glen Station. The latter point can be reached via the Grand Trunk and Eastern Railroad, 
or by any of the routes over Mount Washington. The five highest peaks of the White Moun- 
tains (Madison, Adams, Jefferson, Clay and Washington) present themselves in grand array 
from this point. The disciple of Walton may enjoy good trout-fishing in the vicinity, while 
the general tourist will find the neighborhood abounding with points of interest, chief among 
which are the Garnet Pools, the Imp, Thompson's Falls, the Emerald Pool, the Glen-Ellis 
Falls, the Crystal Cascade, and Carter Dome. From the Glen House the road leads along 
the Peabody Valley, a distance of eight miles, to Gorham, the nearest village to the great peaks 
north of Mount Washington. " No point in the mountains," says Thomas Starr King, who 
spent several seasons in Gorham, " offers views to be gained by walks of a mile or two, that 
are more noble and memorable." The village, which is an important station of the Grand 
Trunk Railroad, is 812 feet above the sea, and is located in a broad valley, whose dry, bracing 
air is healthful and invigorating. East of Gorham, near the railroad station (Grand Trunk 
line) of Shelburne, is spread, over a rugged and mountainous area, the little hamlet of Shel- 
burne, the road through which is, according to Mr. King, unsurpassed by any drive of equal 
length among the mountains, for varied interest in beauty of scenery, historic and traditional 
associations connected with the prominent points of the landscape, and the scientific attrac- 
ttons of some portions of it. The chief mountains of the town are the Ingalls, Baldcap, and 
the northern peaks of Moriah. Mount Winthrop, within the town, affords an excellent 
point for overlooking the Androscoggin Valley, with the Newry range and other mountain 
heights of Western Maine in the distance. Continuing the trip in the opposite direction 
from Gorham, the nearest station reached is Berlin Falls. The Androscoggin River descends 
here, nearly 200 feet in one mile of its course, in powerful falls and rapids, the most inter- 
esting being the Berlin Falls. Other noteworthy points are the Alpine Cascades and Mount 
Forest. A favorite drive with visitors to this locality is that over the Milan road along the 
river through its picturesque valley to Milan, eight miles distant. From West Milan and 
Green's Ledge grand views of the mountain ranges and the Androscoggin Valley reward the 
tourist for the trip. 

Returning from this northwardly invasion into this beautiful region of the White Moun- 
tains towards its grand centre of observation. North Conway, the Portland and Ogdensburg 
Railroad may serve as a basis of further operations, with the little hamlet of I^pper Bartlett 
for a starting-point. This place is admirably situated, being entirely surrounded by moun- 
tains. There are the Carrigan, Nancy Range, Tremont, and Haystack, on the west; Hart's 
and Willoughby Ledges, Parker, Crawford, Resolution, Langdon, and Pickering, on the north ; 



92 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



Kearsarge and Moat to the east ; and Table and Bear Mountains to the south. Fine trouting 
in the tributaries of the Saco tempts the angler, and from here the fine view of Mount Carri- 
gan is had which Champney's famous painting has made so widely known. Proceeding 
further, Bemis Station is reached, another centre of rich mountain scenery. Near the station 
is the old Mount Crawford House, whose site was occupied before the year 1800 by Abel 
Crawford, It was formerly one of the chief hostelries of the mountain region, but has long 
since been closed to the public. Interesting excursions may be made from here to the Craw- 
ford and Nancy Mountains, the latter of which derives its name from a romantic though sad 
incident in the early history of the neighborhood : In the winter of 1788, Nancy, a servant in 
the family of Colonel Whipple, was about to go to Portsmouth with her lover to be married. 
In her simple trustfulness, the young girl confided the small sum, which constituted all her 
marriage portion, to her betrothed, who repaid her with the basest treachery. Seizing an 
opportunity, her faithless admirer left the hamlet. On learning this, she set out after him 
through the snow, reaching the camping-place at the Notch, thirty miles distant, only to find it 
deserted, and herself unable to rekindle the smouldering fire. She pressed on until, after cross- 
ing and recrossing the icy Saco several times, she died of utter exhaustion upon the south bank of 




Owl's Head Mountain. 



Nancy's Brook, where, under a canopy of evergreen which the snow tendeny drooped over her, 
s'le wrs found by men who had gone in search of her. The lover became insane and died, a few 
years afterward, a raving maniac. The view from the Crawford House is particularly grand, 
with the pleasant Crawford Glen in the foreground, and many of the loftiest peaks of the region 
beyond. Between Willard, Willey, Webster, and Jackson Mountains (all of which may be 
seen from here), and dividing the great New Hampshire group of mountains near its centre, 
is a deep pass, the White Mountain Notch. The massive walls are seen towering to a height 
of two thousand feet, and, indeed, some of the highest peaks are lost to sight among the clouds. 
The base of the Notch forms the bed of the wild, impetuous Saco River, which descends 
through rocky debris of old avalanches, and winds about and dashes and splashes over huge 
boulders along this vast ravine. The splendor of autumnal scenes in the White Mountain 
Notch has been again and again enthusiastically described by the pen of the author and por- 
trayed by the brush of the artist. A number of falls, notably the Flume and Silver Cascades, 
and the Ripley and Arethusa Falls, charm the visitor, and invite him to prolong his stay here. 
The Crawford House occupies the supposed bed of an ancient lake, upon a plateau nineteen 



M0UM\4fA' RESORTS. p^ 

hundred feet above the sea. Near by are also the Gate of the Notch, the Elephant's Head, 
Bucher's Cascades, and Gibbs's Falls. Visits to Mounts Willard and Willey, from which 
beautiful views are obtained, are among the most pleasant and profitable tours to be made in 
this region. Four miles north of the Crawford, is the Fabyan House, fifteen hundred and 
seventy feet above the sea. Most of the summits of the Presidential range of mountains are 
visible from here. The Ammonoosuc Falls, where the stream descends over rapids for some dis- 
tance above and then makes a fall of nearly fifty feet through a narrow gorge, whose walls are 
polished ledges of granite, the Giant's Grave, a mound of river gravel or a sandbar formed by 
the reaction of the ocean-waves against the adjacent hills, and many other points invite the 
tourist's attention. Good trout-fishing forms additional attraction. The Twin Mountain House 
is located upon a terrace of the Ammonoosuc River, about five miles west of the Fabyan. The 
Twin Mountains, which are difficult of access, are best seen from Mounts Washington and 
Lafayette. The best point of advance is considered to be the head of Little River. Eight 
miles west of the Twin Mountain House is Bethlehem Station. The usual approach to this 
point from the south is via the Boston, Concord and Montreal Road, and its Mount Wash- 
ington branch. Passengers from North Conway go by the Ogdensburg Railroad through the 
Notch. Stages from the hotels will be found in waiting at the station. The village of Beth- 
lehem Street, on a high plateau, fourteen hundred and fifty feet above the level of the sea, is 
said to be the highest village east of the Rocky Mountains. The view from here is broad and 
imposing, and the surroundings lack little if any of the beauty of those of North Conway. 
The drives in the neighborhood are varied and delightful. Bethlehem is particularly sought 
by victims of hay fever, to whom it is a perfect harbor of refuge, while its sanitary advantages 
in other respects have made a sojourn here a frequent object of recommendation to other in- 
valids. The Mount Washington House, delightfully situated a few rods from the main street, 
is one of the best caravansaries in the highlands, and is commended to sojourners at Bethle- 
hem. Eight miles north of Bethlehem, on the St. John's River, is the pretty town of White- 
field. The Howland Observatory is two miles distant from the village, and commands a 
grand view. Dalton is next reached at the head of the Fifteen-mile Falls of the Con- 
necticut River, a chain of wild rapids in a narrow valley. Farther on, towards the north- 
v,'estern verge of the mountain region, one of the most beautiful villages of the White Moun- 
tains, Lancaster, is located. It has a delightful climate, and is surrounded by some of the 
best farms in the State. It lies on the Israel's River, near its confluence with the Connecti- 
cut. Of its beautiful valley, Sir Charles Dilke says : " The world can show few scenes more 
winning than Israel's River Valley." Pleasant drives in the vicinity of the village offer many 
advantages for extended excursions, and afford magnificent views, extending over the rich 
meadows and fruitful fields, and along the rivers to the distant mountain background. 

Turning back into the very heart of the northwestern region of the White Mountains, the 
hamlet of Jefferson Hill is encountered, eight miles southeast of Lancaster. Thomas Starr 
King says of it, enthusiastically: "Jefferson Hill may, without exaggeration, be called the 
?^///w^z //i///? of grandeur in an artist's pilgrimage among the New Hampshire mountains, for 
at no other point can he see the White Hills themselves in such array and force." From here 
many tours into the surrounding country, with grand views of the Presidential range of moun- 
tains, can be made. Visits to Mount Starr King, and Owl's Head, on Cherry Mountain, are 
especially interesting, as is also the ascent of Mount Adams and the drive to the top of Ran- 
dolph's Hill. The invasion into the ranks of the gigantic cluster of beautiful mountains, the 
Presidential Range, is thus made. A thousand wonders of the mountain-world lie open to the 
tourist in his rambles among these lofty peaks. The Lakes of the Clouds, five thousand feet 
above the sea, between Mounts Washington and Monroe ; the Falls of the Ammonoosuc River, 



94 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



which rises here, and descends over two thousand feet in the first three miles of its course ; 
that stupendous declivity, Tuckerman's Ravine, with its wonderful snow-arch, formed by the 
solidification of the ponderous masses of snow driven into it by the winter storms, and filling 
it, while the mountain streams, passing beneath the icy cupola, carry off the snowy contents 
beneath, leaving the ice-arch supported by the huge boulders of the ravine ; the castellated 
ridge of Mount Jefferson, that invincible fortress of nature's own construction ; the Great 
Gulf, that terrible yet fascinating gorge, with its wide-split crevasses, from which the encircling 
mountains appear to ascend, as if out of the mighty depths of the earth itself; Hermit Lake, 
King's Ravine, the Alpine Garden, — all these, and many other, points of interest awe and 
inspire with wonder, and delight the visitor. Mount Washington, the giant of the mountain 
range, is the highest ])oint on the North Atlantic coast, its lofty peak rising to an altitude of 
sixty-two hundred and ninety feet above the level of the sea. Its summit has the arctic climate 




Echo Lake. 

FROM "THE HEART OF THE WHITK MOUNTAINS," PUBLISHED BY IIAKPER <S BROS. 

of Greenland, though twenty-six degrees farther south than the latter, and is above the limit 
of the tree-growing region. Pages of interesting description might be written, and have been 
written, of the wonders seen from this elevation, penetrating, as it were, into the very secrets 
of the heavens. Thunder and lightning playing among heavy storms ; rainbows, remaining 
for hours, with two and three supplementary bows; antherias and coronas, such as are never 
seen elsewhere in our latitudes ; sunrises and sunsets of magic splendor ; conflicts of the winds 
and clouds, the latter of wonderful varieties of shapes, colors, and movements; and frostwork 
of the most exquisite master character, are among the phenomena that may be witnessed upon 
this mountain, the spectator realizing almost the royal treasures with which wild fancy, in 
fairy stories, fills the interior of enchanted mountains, in the surroundings of this wonderful 
peak. The first ascent of Mount Washington was made by Darby Field, an Irishman, in 
June, 1642. Accom])anied by two Indians, he started from Piscat (Portsmouth), accomplish- 



MO UNTA IN RESOR TS. 



95 



ing the journey in eighteen days. The view from the summit of Mount Washington encom- 
passes nearly one thousand miles, embracing parts of five States and the Province of Quebec, 
and sweeping over scores of villages and towns, hundreds of hills and mountains, and lakes, 
rivers, and valleys of New England. Provided with an abundance of heavy clothing, suitable 
for the arctic atmosphere of the top, the tourist may ascend the mountain by the convenient 
railway to the summit. 

Five miles west of Bethlehem, at the busy little village of Littleton, the traveller will find 
himself again at a convenient starting-point for an exploring tour, this time directed toward 
the other division of the grand New Hampshire mountain range, the Franconia Mountains, 
which, while less imposing and majestic than the White, possess features equally wonderful, 
and often of greater beauty. The Franconia Notch, a valley five to six miles long, through 
which the Pemigewasset River pours its pure mountain waters, about ten miles south of Beth- 
lehem, is reached by rail from the latter place, or by stage from Plymouth. The Notch is 
called by Rev. Starr King "a huge museum of curiosities." Harriet Martineau declared it 
the noblest mountain pass that she saw in the United States. Nearly a mile north of the 
Profile House, situated near the north end of the Notch, is the beautiful Echo Lake. From 
a boat upon this pretty sheet of water, the human voice is echoed and re-echoed with peculiar 
distinctness, and the report of a cannon or gun is answered by artillery and musketry from every 
mountain and hill. The singing of a song, or the playing of a tune upon a musical instrument, 
seems to make vocal the forests of every hill, or fill them with bands of musicians, reminding 
the listener, as the echoing notes die in the distance, of the lines of theEnglish poet laureate : 

" Oh hark ! oh hear ! How thin aiid clear, 
And thinner, clearer, farther going; 
Oh sweet and far, from cliff and scaur, 

The horns of elf-land faintly blowing ! 
Blow ! Let us hear the purple glens replying ; 
Blow, bugle! Answer, echoes, dying, dying!" 

One of the greatest curiosities of nature to be seen here is the Profile, or Old Man of the 
Mountains, a remarkable natural rock-sculpture of a human head, measuring some forty feet 
from the tip of the chin to the flattened crown, and bearing a perfect resemblance to an antique 
profile. It is formed by the ledges on the upper cliffs of Mount Cannon. The latter, the 
long and rnassiv^ ridge forming the western wall of the Notch, derives its name from one of 
the ledges, which is so balanced that it presents the appearance of a cannon protruding from 
the parapet of some fortification. Profile and Moran Lakes, with Eagle Cliff, form additional 
points of interest to the tourist, and are easily accessible. From here, also, the ascent of 
Mount Lafayette may be made over the so-called bridle-path. At the south end ofthe Notch 
is the Flume House. The chief point of interest in the vicinity is the Flume, a remarkable 
rock-gallery, some seven hundred feet in length, through which rushes a beautiful icy brook. 
Near the upper part of the Flume, firmly lodged between the narrowing walls, is a huge 
boulder. The Pool, the Basin, Mount Pemigewasset, and Georgianna Falls, in the neighbor- 
hood, are places of great interest to the sojourner here. Emerging from the Franconia Notch, 
and proceeding in his tour towards the southwestern portion of the mountain region, the 
visitor has reached the western part of the hill country, comprising what is termed the 
"Pemigewasset region," and completed his tour of the White Mountains country proper, 
which, while being marvellously grand, picturesque, and enchanting, in almost every feature, 
does not, as a writer has said, "by any means monopolize the beautiful landscape visions 
scattered through the New England States. Mount Washington is not the only peak worth 
climbing, nor are the Conway Meadows the only dreamland." Some of the other beauties 
and delights of New England to the tourist are treated under other heads in this work. 




ffiii^eral SppiF^js RessrtS. 

" Imprimis, my darling, they drink 

The waters so sparkling and clear ; 
Though the flavor is none of the best, 

And the odor exceedingly queer; 
But the fluid is mingled, you know. 

With wholesome medicinal things, 
So they drink, and they drink, and they drink, 

And that's what they do at the Springs. 
***** 4e- 

" In short — as it goes in the world — 

They eat, and they drink, and they sleep ; 
They talk, and they walk, and they woo ; 

They sigh, and they laugh, and they weep; 
They read, and they ride, and they dance, 

(With other unspeakable things) ; 
They pray, and they play, and they pay, , 

And that's what they do at the Springs." 

N various localities from Maine to California the surface of our country is dotted 
with mineral springs, around which throngs of people gather every season, some 
to drink the waters, others to mingle in the whirl of pleasure and society 
they find there. The question whether mineral waters are really beneficial 
medicinally has been extensively discussed, and in spite of the incredulity and ridicule 
so long indulged by a portion of the medical profession a verdict in favor of the waters 
has come to be generally accepted. Medical gentlemen now almost universally admit 
that patients afilicted with inveterate chronic diseases often resort to mineral springs with 
the result of a perfect cure. The pages of ancient authors frequently contain records of 
resorts where the sick bathed in healing waters or drank of medicinal fountains. In Greece 
the temples of ^sculapius were frequently erected near springs reputed to possess curative 
power. The ancient Athenians, during the summer months, sought the thermal-saline- 
sulphur baths of .^depsus, in the island of Euboea, about sixty miles by sea from Athens. 
The works of Latin writers contain frequent allusions to medicinal springs, testifying the 
esteem in which they were held by the Romans. In the brilliant days of imperial Rome, 
bathing formed a chief enjoyment of patrician and plebeian. The luxury of warm bathing 
was indulged in to such excess that at one time eight hundred thermal baths could be counted 
within the city, and several of these would accommodate three thousand bathers. Many of 
these structures covered entire squares, and were adorned with every architectural beauty. 
An approach to them showed beautiful marble porticos, supported by many-fluted columns^ 
and within was a labyrinth of marble halls and colonnades, decorated with statuary and 
mosaics by the masters. Within the inclosure were gardens of rare flowers and exotics, and 
apartments containing well-arranged libraries and works of art. Americans do not yet treat 
their mineral baths upon this scale of magnificence, but they may be said to entertain almost 
an equal regard for the springs. 

Saratoga. 

As a fashionable resort Saratoga takes the lead of all others on this side of the Atlantic. 
During '' the season " its mammoth hotels and numerous boarding-houses entertain an aggre- 
gation of humanity amounting to tens of thousands. The attraction which draws together 
(96) 



MINE RA L SPR INGS RESOR TS. o , 

this vast stream is chiefly the gayety of the place and its reputation among the votaries of 
fashion as the "swell " resort. The natural attractions are the group of mineral springs, the 
magnificent elms which shade the streets of the town, and the beautiful lake about four miles 
distant. There is also a race-course, among the finest in the country, and the summer races 
at Saratoga are noted turf events of the season. There is, withal, no more brilliant scene to 
be found in America than that presented at Saratoga in August, when the town is thronged 
with visitors, and thousands of private and public carriages join in the parade of wealth and 
style on Broadway and on the Boulevard. Broadway, the main street, extends for several 
miles, with the principal hotels near its centre, and a succession of costly villas beyond. The 
drives and promenades m the vicinity are delightful. The lake is nine miles long by three in 
width, and is a source of much pleasant amusement. It is reached by the Boulevard, which 
passes near the race-course and trout-ponds. In the near vicinity is a sequestered pond among 
the hills called "Lake Lovely." In the society at Saratoga it may appear that the gay and 
frivolous predominate, but it must be remembered that froth and foam come to the surface, 
while the still water rests quietly in its conscious power. The butterflies may sport in the 
sunshine, — we all love to see them, bright, golden-winged beauties as they are, glorifying the 
commonplace with their presence. 



" Saratoga Society, 
What endless variety ! 
What pinks of propriety! 
What gems of sobriety ! 
What garrulous old folks, 
What shy folks and bold folks, 
And warm folks and cold folks ! 
Such curious dressing, 
And tender caressing, 
(Of course that is guessing,) 
Such sharp Yankee Doodles, 
And dandified noodles, 



And other pet poodles ! 

Such very loud patterns, 

(Worn often by slatterns !) 

Such straight necks, and bow necks, 

Such dark necks and snow necks, 

And high necks and low necks ! 

With this sort and that sort. 

The lean sort and fat sort. 

The bright and the flat sort — 

Saratoga is crammed full, 

And 7-ainnied full, znd Jammed full." 



Saratoga is situated thirty-eight miles north of Albany, 182 miles from New York, and 238 
from Boston. It is reached from New York via boats up the Hudson to Albany and thence 
by the Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad, or by the Hudson River Railroad to Albany. From 
Boston take the New York and New England Railroad to New York, or the Boston and Albany 
to the latter place. The springs are said to have been visited by invalids as early as 1773, but 
the principal spring was not discovered until 1792, It is said that the medicinal properties of 
the High Rock spring were known to the Iroquois Indians in 1535, and that Sir William John- 
son was carried thither on a litter by the Mohawks in 1767, and he is believed to have been 
the first white man to visit the spring. The springs rise in a stratum of Potsdam sandstone, 
near a great break or fissure in the strata underlying the Saratoga valley, and reach the surface 
through a bed of blue clay. The waters are found very beneficial in affections of the liver, in 
some cases of chronic dyspepsia, and chronic diseases of the bowels. Besides other qualities, 
they appear to possess the virtues of a tonic united with those of a gentle cathartic. Most of 
the springs are now owned by stock companies, one of which has a stock capital of $1,000,000. 
Great quantities of the water are bottled and exported, and there is scarcely a town of any size 
in America in which they are not regularly sold. The process of boring artesian wells has 
been successfully introduced, and some of the most valuable of the new sources of water supply 
have recently, been discovered in this way. The battle of Saratoga was fought here between 
the British, under General Burgoyne, and the Americans, under General Gates, commencing 
on the 7th of October, 1777, and terminating on the i6th, by the surrender of the entire 



g8 OUR AMERICAN RES OR 7'S. 

British force, numbering five thousand seven hundred and ninety-one men, with forty-two 
cannon and all their stores. The prisoners thus taken were held until the close of the war — 
more than five years. The present hotel system of Saratoga is unrivalled elsewhere in the 
world. 

White Sulphur Springs, W. Ya. 

The Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs are, next to Saratoga, the best known and most pop- 
ular of all the mineral springs resorts in this country. For many years they have been the 
resort par excellence of the South, and much sought by a select class from all sections. They 
are situated on Howard's Creek, in Greenbrier County, directly on the line of the Chesapeake 
and Ohio Railway, at the edge of the Great Western Valley and near the base of the Alleghany 
range of mountains, which rise at all points in picturesque beauty. Kate's Mountain, which 
recalls some heroic exploits of an Indian maiden of long ago, is one fine point of the scene 
southward ; while the Greenbrier Hills lie two miles away, toward the west, and the lofty Alle- 
ghanies tower up majestically on the north and east. Within the beautiful valley overlooked 
by these mountain summits is the magnificent hotel. In front the lawn spreads out, occupying 
probably 50 acres, and intersected by numerous winding walks. Encompassing the lawn on 
either side are long lines of shining white cottages, embowered beneath the shade of ancient 
oaks, while at the distant extremity, the famous spring bubbles beneath a pavilion. Taking 
one of the by-paths to the right, "Lover's Maze " is soon reached, and here, under a dense 
shade of forest trees, obscurely winding paths lead in every direction amid a thick growth of 
laurel, while precipitous declivities sink away, from which extended views of the deep valley 
below may be had, with the mountain ranges in the distance. Over all these natural beauties 
ths "season " throws its spell of animation and revelry, for the White Sulphur is a place of 
much gayety, and pleasure-seeking reigns supreme. 

These springs, according to a late medical writer, very much resemble the celebrated cold 
sulphur waters of Neuendorf in Electoral Hesse. They are beneficial in a wide range of dis- 
eases. It is not known precisely at what period the spring was discovered. Though the 
Indians undoubtedly knew its virtues, there is no record of its being used by the whites until 
1778. Log-cabins were first erected on the spot in 1 784-' 86, and the place began to assume 
something of its present aspect about 1820. Since then it has been yearly improved, until it is 
capable of pleasantly housing some 2500 guests. The spring bubbles up from the earth in the 
lowest part of the valley, and is covered by a pavilion, formed of 12 Ionic columns, supporting 
a dome, crowned by a statue of Hygeia. The spring is at an elevation of 2000 feet above 
tide-water. Its temperature is 62° Fahr., and is uniform through all seasons. Its average 
yield is about 30 gallons per minute, and the supply is neither diminished in dry weather nor 
increased by the longest rains. The principal ingredients of the water are nitrogen gas, oxy- 
gen gas, carbonic acid, hydro-sulphuric acid, sulphate of lime and magnesia, and carbonate 
of lime. Its effect is alterative and stimulant, and it is beneficial in cases of dyspepsia, liver- 
disease, nervous diseases, cutaneous diseases, rheumatism and gout. To reach the White Sulphur 
from Washington take the Virginia Midland Railway to Charlottesville. From cities east and 
north take the Pennsylvania Railroad to Washington or steamers to Richmond. The dis- 
tance from the latter point is 227 miles, and from old Point Comfort 321 miles. 

Hot Springs, Arkansas. 

In a narrow valley, a mile and a half long, running north and south between the Ozark 
Mountains, in Garland County, Arkansas, lies the town of Hot Springs. It has an elevation of 
1500 feet above the sea, and the surrounding region is wild and picturesque, while the town 
and immediate neighborhood are lovely with verdure during the greater part of the year. 



MINERAL SPRINGS RESORTS. go 

The Hot Springs Creek flows past it, and the Washita River is six miles distant. There are 66 
springs, which issue from the western slope of the Hot Springs Mountain, on the east side of 
the valley. 350 gallons a minute, or 500,000 gallons per day, at a temperature varying from 
93° to 160° F., pour out into the creek, whose waters are sufficiently warm for bathing in mid- 
winter even. The springs are pure, so clear as to be transparent, are almost tasteless, and do 
not deposit any sediment. The water can be taken internally for their aperient and tonic 
effect, being highly recommended in blood diseases. The baths are beneficial in diseases of 
the skin, rheumatic complaints, and mercurial diseases, and are of three kinds : the vapor baths 
at 112°; the i/c'/^r/i^, a spirit bath, at 120° ; and the saving bath, at 116°. The town and 
valley present a curious appearance to the incoming visitor, the rising steam from the springs 
giving the whole place the air of a great drying factory. The sun shines with intense ardor, 
but there is generally a draft through the valley which prevents the heat from becoming 
oppressive. The Hot Springs have of late been popular with many statesmen and other prom- 
inent men worn out with the exacting cares of a busy life. Consumptives, however, and per- 
sons troubled with pu I/nonary or throat diseases should by all means avoid this section. The Hot 
Springs are reached by the St. Louis, Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad, being 45 miles 
southwest of Little Rock. There will be but little trouble in securing quarters, as the entire 
town of 5000 inhabitants is in the business. 

The Great Spirit Spring, Kansas. 

One of the newer candidates for popular favor among the valuable mineral springs with 
which our country is dotted is the " Great Spirit," located near Cawker City, Kansas, on the 
Central Branch of the Union Pacific Railway. Though never much advertised or used as a 
moneyed attraction, the great medicinal value of this spring has been known to thousands of 
people for many years, and was famous among the aborigines long before the pale-face ever 
saw the beautiful Solomon Valley, wherein it is located. With the medical profession its 
waters have also had a high standing for several years. The formation in which the spring 
has its setting rises up like a vast cone, dripping the waters from an elevation of forty feet 
above its surroundings. According to the traditions of the Dakotas there were tribal ceremo- 
nies upon this spot in the ages of the past, when the great trees of Mariposa Grove were yet 
young, and it is said that the medicine-men of these tribes sent their patients long distances 
to cure their ills with this water. Arrows were sent from beyond the great pipe-stone quarries 
of Hiawatha to be consecrated in it. The locality has become a popular resort, both on 
account of the poetry and antiquity of the legends which cluster around it, and the reports 
of scientists, who have been led to analyze the water after reading the Jesuit records. It is 
still believed among the Indians that within the curious shrine of this spring the spirit of 
Waconda has remained since the battle of the seven suns, as the guardian for all time of the 
destinies of the brave fallen races of the red man, and that once in a hundred years, or there- 
about, she will disturb the water and pour forth a flood to inundate and destroy the wicked. 

Professor B. F. Mudge, assistant to Professor Marsh, of Yale College, visited the spring to 
study its geological place amongst the curious deposits of a region of limestone otherwise 
quite uniform. Prof. Mudge agrees with Dr. Adams, who also examined the locality, that the 
formation is tufa, quite calcareous, and that a greater amount of silica than most analyses 
present rises with the water; so that, though the major portion of the rock is limestone, the 
flint (silica) is sufficient to make the mass of deposit intensely hard, and in some parts almost 
exclusively flint, the softer ingredients having apparently been worn away. Indeed, it is 
likely that the different relative quantities of lime and silica which the water has thrown up in 
different epochs of the history of the crust of the earth, as well as the varying quantities of 



,00 OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 

mineral that would aid or impede the solidification of the lime, must have at one time built 
up the walls of the cone much higher than the present elevation of forty feet, and at other 
times reduced it to a level with the surface of the earth, or perhaps below the bed of the 
Solomon River, which is not more than three hundred feet distant, and all along which, 
within half a mile, there are huge blocks of this strange rock, that must have originated from 
the fissure out of which the water gushes, and whose bottom no pole has yet reached. But 
the cone at the spring itself is almost perfectly round, and its sides are not so steep as to pre- 
vent carriages from making the circuit near the water's edge. Formerly the water was found 
flowingaboutevenly over every part of the vast basin. This is the condition in which the Indians 
left it. The law of even formation seems to have been that wherever the thin sheet of water 
most frequently appeared there would be the most considerable deposit of the lime and flint, 
and a consequent elevation, while in no part would the overflow be great. Thus the chief 
escape would constantly vary, and give every point in the circle an opportunity to harden. 
There is a foliation of the solidified rock, and the people now living in the vicinity say it can 
be split with the stone-mason's axe. 

There is no spring in this country having waters similar in character to the Waconda, or 
Great Spirit, except the High Rock at Saratoga, which partially resembles it. The sulphates 
of sodium and magnesia constitute twenty-five per cent, of the solids held in solution by this 
remarkable water, now so widely recommended by physicians. At San Filippo in Italy there 
is a spring of this character, which has built itself a protecting wall of rock more than two 
hundred feet thick. An analysis of the water of the Great Spirit Spring, by Professor Patrick, 
of the State University of Kansas, discloses the predominance of ingredients beneficial in all 
cases of liver and kidney difficulties. According to recent tests, it is believed among physi- 
cians that this water is the best known remedy for kidney diseases. This, coupled with the 
fact that the dry air of the plains has been found a potent remedial agent in pulmonary and 
malarial diseases, has directed special attention to the locality of this spring, and last season 
hundreds of people were there for whom accommodations could not be furnished. Many 
camped out for days in the neighborhood, and others travelled several miles daily to and from 
the nearest hotels. The owners of the property have never made any effort to utilize the spring 
further than to provide bath-houses and send away the water in barrels to those writing for it. 
But the unlooked-for demand for the water and for accommodations at the spring has led to 
the organization of a company, which will this season erect hotels and cottages and provide 
additional bath-houses. Those acquainted with such matters predict that in a few years the 
Waconda, or Great Spirit Spring, will be one of the most widely-famous and popular in this 
or any country. 

Waukesha, Wisconsin. 

The village of Waukesha is prettily situated in one of the most beautiful and picturesque 
portions of the attractive State of Wisconsin. Its name has become almost a household word 
throughout the country, because of the Mineral Springs located there. These springs are 
among the most celebrated in the land, and their waters are shipped all over the world. But 
had they never existed Waukesha might have become, naturally, a great summer resort. Its 
location and beauty, the delightful climate, especially in the later months of summer and fall, 
its proximity to the lovely lakes, Peewaukee and Oconomonoc, would in any event have made 
the place one of unusual attractiveness. Its situation upon the Fox River, the principal feeder 
of the Illinois, adds to its attractions, and so long ago as 1835 it was settled by immigrant 
pioneers, principally from Indiana and the Eastern States, who were not slow to avail them- 
selves of its admirable facilities for water-power, and those charming beauties of nature which 
pointed it out as one of the fittest of all possible places in the Northwest for the site of pretty 



MINERAL SPRINGS RESORTS loi 

and pleasant homesteads. Since that period, and particularly within the present decade, the 
village has grown rapidly, until, while retaining all the delightful characteristics of a country 
life, it presents many of the advantages and conveniences of. the city. These have been 
gained partly from its position, only twenty miles from Milwaukee. About the large springs' 
hotels parks have been laid out, while the greater number of the private residences and many 
of the streets are beautifully adorned with shade trees, often meeting and arching overhead, 
and forming by their branches a protection from sun or shower. The trim lawns and the 
many-hued and fragrant flowers in the gardens add to the charm of the scene, and altogether 
in many respects Waukesha presents the appearance of a clean, bright, tidy and flourishing 
New England village. It has a population of about 5000. Since the discovery of the 
medicinal properties of the Mineral Springs the place has rapidly grown in favor as a watering- 
place, and it is now the most popular resort west of the Alleghanies. There are ten springs 
whose waters are used, of which the Bethesda, Silurian, and Fountain are the best known. 
In cases of Bright's disease, diabetes, dyspepsia, and all liver and kidney affections, dropsy, 
gravel, etc., the waters are highly recommended. The hotel accommodations are ample, and 
there are numerous boarding-houses of various grades and capacities. 





(102) 



CuUisaja Falls, Western North Cai-oliiia. 



Whe iealfch ReSsrts ©f t^e S©yteh. 



' Knowst tliou the land where the lemon trees bloom, 
Where the gold orange grows in the green thicket's gloom, 
Where the wind ever soft from the blue heaven blows. 
And groves are of myrtle and orange and rose? " 



'5^^>v 




"URING the last few years all that region of country comprising Northern Georgia, 
Western North Carolina, portions of South Carolina, and Florida, has been steadily 
growing in favor among that large class of people who from choice or necessity wish 
to escape the rigor of a northern climate. *The number of those to seek the balmy 
air of Florida from February to April was greater this year than ever before, and it will be still 
greater in 1884. To leave snow and frost in the North, with the thermometer near about zero, 
and be sitting fifty hours later in 
a shady nook of some Southern 
piazza with the same thermom- 
eter all alive at 86°, a tender, 
wanton breeze ruffling the bo- 
som of a lake, so far away that 
no man would ever walk to it — 
that is if he were as lazy as he 
ought to be in such an at- 
mosphere — and half-open eyes, 
catching a glimpse of sun- 
filled ways, brooded palms, 
and swaying, blossom-dotted 
vines, how easy and natural to 
not only picture the distant 
spiraea arrayed in white and 
green, but also to place it in 
the midst of a velvety lawn, 
shaded by full-foliaged trees 
and broken by circles of flow- 
ers. It is a translation that 
makes one wealthy, affable and 
sociable, and leads him to 
forget yesterday. 

Oddly-shaped Florida is as a 
rule the first objective point of 
the traveller south, a country Mouth of the okiawaha. 

on the edge of the tropics, whose everglades, swamps, and strange rivers bordered by luxu- 
riant vegetation give one an impression of the freaks of nature run wild. Jacksonville, the 
largest city and capital of Florida, on the St. John's River, about twenty-five miles from the 
mouthy is modelled on Northern plans, with shady streets crossing at right angles. It is a 
popular stopping-place and enjoys a busy winter season. The equable temperature is a charm' 
in itself, while there are many pleasant excursions on the river and good views on the fine 
shell roadways. Those who must have the city as a resort may linger, but to get an idea of 
tropical scenery one must go by steamboat down the St. John's. Beyond Jacksonville, three 

(103) 




I04 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 




hundred miles from its source, the river rolls along, now a stream a half mile wide, and now 
a lake two or perhaps six miles wide— the low banks netted over with a growth all its own,— 
a jungle of vines clambering over thickets, and on the hammocks rows of the cotton-wood, 
the juniper, which sweetens and preserves the waters that glimmer black and deep in the half- 
hidden recesses, the 
red cedar, the sweet 
gum, the white and 
black ash, the redo- 
lent magnolia, the 
water-oak, and the 
glistening, richly- 
dressed palmettoes — 
and at their feet a 
maze of shrubbery, 
amongst which the 
azalea, the sensitive 
plant, the sumach, 
the agave, the nettle, 
and the poppy are 
prominent. All these 
laden thickets are 
bound together by 
running arms and 
tendrils of the fox- 
grape, while the 
woodbine and bigno- 
nia clamber up the 
great trees and nod 
in the breeze above. 
On a jutting cape the 
heron and the crane 
pensively yet know- 
ingly eye the steamer 
at a safe distance ; a 
spJash in the depths 
beyond marks the 
spot where a turtle 
has dropped from a 
log, or tells that the 
grinning alligator has 
taken the hint sent 
from the chambers 
of a half dozen re- 
volvers and "will see 
you later." Along 

the river side at intervals are homes lying amongst handsome shade-trees, inviting landing- 
points, and villages and towns. Some eleven miles above Jacksonville Mulberry Grove is passed, 
a charming spot for a picnic. A few miles farther on is Mandarin, the winter home of Mrs. 




The Suwanee River. 



HEALTH RESORTS OE THE SOCTH. 



■05 



Harriet Beecher-Stowe; then past the high Magnolia Point, and into Green Cove Springs, 
whose clear green and limpid waters rush out at the rate of three thousand gallons a minute, and 
are overhung by streamers of gray moss and mistletoe depending from the branches of the 
encircling oaks; by Picolata, with its old Spanish memories, and on the other side an 
ancient fort; by Tocoi and several little landings, road stations and orange groves, to Pilatka, 
the largest town on the wa^^, with a climate made to order and comforts for the invalid. 
Above Pilatka nature runs wild and frolics everywhere, while the river rolls along in modera- 
tion till, just above Welaka and twenty-five miles from Pilatka, it widens into Little Lake 
George, four miles wide and seven miles long, and then into Lake George, twelve miles wide 
and eighteen miles long. There is scarcely a lovelier sheet of water in the world than this 
lake, while the entrance and the exit are all its own. The surface is dotted with islets that 
are bowers of vines and 
flowers, where the creepers 
run down to the water's 
edge and repeat their grace 

and exquisite colors in the 

mirror below ; and here 

and there are islands under 

cultivation, with the golden 

spheres hanging from the 

midst of the rich, dark 

green foliage of the orange 

groves. Around the curves 

and on the shores the scene 

is filled by the pelican, the 

heron, the curlew or the 

loon, and the flight of 

brightly plumaged birds, 

while throughout the clumps 

of trees the gentle breeze 

wafts the sweet notes of 

Southern songsters. Leaving 

this beautiful spot and pass- 
ing a succession of forts and 

landings. Blue Spring, forty 

miles above, is reached, 

where mineral waters gush 




Wakulla Spring. 



out in a strong stream, so clear that the fish can be seen darting about below the shadow of 
the boat. Further south is Lake Monroe, twelve miles long and five wide, with Mellonville 
on one side and Enterprise, the head of regular steamboat navigation and a popular resort, on 
the other. 

Twenty-five miles south of Pilatka, opposite Welaka, the Ocklawaha, after flowing three hun- 
dred miles, empties into the St. John's. There are no banks to this peculiar stream, which is 
but a channel through a long series of lakes and cypress swamps. The funny cranky little 
steamboat puff's into the cypress-shaded opening and winds its way along a river whose only 
boundaries are blazes on the trunks of the towering trees. The hull bumps against butts of 
the cypresses and the hidden stumps, and the experience in this line of navigation is odd and 
original in itself. Curving around the densely wooded turns one may see ahead a mound 

8 



io6 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



covered with the tall, slender palmettoes, from whose branches sway gray, fine mosses, and some- 
times rods and rods of figured patches of swaying, beautifully flowered convolvuluses. Another 
turn and the boat swings into a green-canopied retreat, where the interlaced and tangled veg- 
etation overhead shuts out the sunlight and makes a dark cavern below. At the other side on 
a dead cypress in a solemn row sit a number of buzzards, waiting for nature to add the final 

touches to a dead alligator before the feast. 
The swamps on each side abound in birds of 
many varieties; the water-turkey or snake- 
bird, hiding his body amongst the foliage, 
with his long neck and head protruding, 
or eluding the hunter by dropping into the 
water and diving to safety ; and the white 
crane, conspicuous and effective in the back- 
ground. This latter bird has a penchant 
for juvenile reptiles, and to most it is an 
event for congratulation when from his 
sunny bed on a dried palmetto leaf a slimy 
little imp is picked, to be gently started on 
the downward slide to the crane's interior. 
Here too is the paradise of the alligator, 
which from the wayside winks his piggish 
eyes as the rifle-ball rattles along his mailed 
side, or bids farewell to the cypress trees as 
some experienced sportsman sends a leaden 
messenger into the vulnerable point in the 
armor. Sometimes, as the weird little craft 
bumps along around the " cypress knees," 
the tangled moss above opens and from the 
blue sky without the light pours in and 
flecks the boat in a thousand sunbeams, 
while the cranes rise up and trail away with 
flapping wing';, the snakes and turtles whisk 
down to homes beneath the surface, and the 
brilliant-plumaged paroquets scream as 
they dart off into the depths. When night 
comes on blazing pine-knots in the swing- 
ing cranes on each side of the boat light 
up the dark channel, and as the rays par- 
tially illuminate the tall, moss-decked trees 
around and beyond, strange spectres and 
grotesque ghosts arise and with supernatural 
air wave their gaunt arms in beckoning or in 
despair. One hundred and forty miles 
from the mouth of the Ocklawaha is the 
marvellous Silver Spring. Its bosom is a splendid polished mirror, a quarter of a mile wide, 
its depths as clear as finest crystal for sixty feet down. The steamboat on the surface- rests on 
an inverted fac simile, and every tree, twig, vine and rock is reproduced in the beautiful pool. 
The floor of this basin is silver sand, studded with curious figures in pale green-tinted lime 




Grand Chasm, Tugaloo River. 



HEA 1.77/ RESORTS OF T7IE SOTT/f. 



107 



crystals. A row across the pool is ever to be remembered. Every object that has been dropped 
into the water by preceding visitors lies in the silver setting, a rich emerald gem. At one place 
a barely discernible bubbling points out the spot from which the water gushes out, thousands 
of gallons, every moment. A stone dropped toward the slight ledge of limestone rock twenty- 
five feet below, is suddenly thrown in a curved line nearly to the surface by the rush of the 
spring from under the rock. A 
turn of the boat around the 
corner into the sunlight and 
one can scarcely believe that 
there is anything between his 
craft and the sharp silhouette 
on the sands below. The river 
may be followed for some 
ninety' miles farther, past some 
picturesque and lovely lakes, 
into the remote wilderness, 
where frost rarely penetrates, 
and sugar-cane tassels. 

Extending southward, on the 
east side of the peninsula, for 
nearly a hundred and fifty miles 
from the lower end of Mosquito 
Inlet, and separated from the 
ocean by a narrow strip of land, 
runs Indian River, a long la- 
goon or arm of the sea. For 
thirty miles the St. John's and 
the Indian River run in parallel 
lines, ten miles apart. The wa- 
ter of the lagoon is salt, and is 
rich in fish of every kind, includ- 
ing the delicious pompano, and 
abounds with rare oysters and 
turtles. A belt of evergreen 
woods marks the eastern side, 
and tempers the winds to the 
rheumatic and consumptive, 
who "find in this country the 
needed quiet and tonic. In 
parts of the Indian country 
bears and deer may be hunted, 
while an abundance of smaller 

game give ample employment Toecoa Fails, Northern Georgia. 

to the sportsman. The region on the western side ii fertile and but awaits enterprise and 
capital to make it bloom. 

One of the most developed parts of the State is '* Middle Florida," the section surrounding 
the capital, Tallahassee, one of the most pleasant cities of the South, resting on an elevation 
and fanned by the breezes from the Gulf. About fifteen miles from the city is one of the chief 




io8 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



wonders of the State, Wakulla Spring, which sends off a river from its single outburst. The 
experience of Silver Spring may be here renewed, — the same lime-impregnated, thrillingly 
transparent water, and the same mosaics of graduated green hues. The basin is narrower than 
that of Silver Spring, but in one particular more impressive, being one hundred and six feet 
deep. Fifty feet below the surface one may see a great ledge of white rock, from beneath 

which the fish swim out. You look down past 
the uppe: part of this ledge, down, down through 
the miraculous lymph, which impresses you at 
once as an abstraction and as a concrete sub- 
stance, to the white concave bottom, where you 
can plainly see a sort of trouble in the ground. 
As the water bursts from its mysterious channel 
one feels more than ever that sensation of 
depth itself wrought into a substantial embodi- 
ment. Proceeding from this spring, the Wakulla 
pours into St. Mark's River, a mysterious and 
picturesque stream, which at the Natural Bridge 
disappears into the earth for the space of fifty 
feet. In " West Florida" there are many points 
of interest and spots where the invalid may re- 
cuperate. The principal cities are Pensacola and 
Appalachicola, the former situated on Pensacdla 
Bay, a body of water of some two hundred 
■^quaie miles area, and the latter at the point 
where the river of the same name empties into 
Appalachicola Bay. The climate and position 
of both places are all that could be desired, 
while there are picturesque ruins and forts about 
the former city. At the southern extremity 
of Floiida, on an island of the same name, is 
Key West, next to Jacksonville 
the largest city in Florida. The 
island is seven miles long, from 
one to two miles wide, and eleven 
feet above the sea. It is interest- 
ing as being of coral formation, a 
fact that modifies the mode of 
living in many ways. 

In various parts of the South 
there are cities which have a 
national reputation as winter 
health resorts. Foremost amongst 
these is St. Augustine, the 
oldest European settlement in 
the United States. Its history is interesting and romantic, carrying one back to the Middle 
Ages and the times when Spanish cavaliers ventured across the great deep in search for 
Eldorado and the fountain of eternal youth. "The aspect of St. Augustine," says Mrs. 
Harriet Beecher Stowe, " is quaint and strange, in harmony with its romantic history. It has 




CuUisaja Falls, from the Chasm. 



HEALTH RESORTS OF THE SOUTH. 



109 



no pretensions to architectural beauty, and yet it is impressive from its unlikeness to anything 
else in America. It is as if some little, old, dead-alive Spanish town, with its fort and gate- 
way and Moorish bell-towers had broken loose, floated over here and got stranded on a sand- 
bank. Here you see the shovel-hats and black gowns of priests ; the convent with gliding 
figures of nuns ; and in the narrow, crooked streets meet dark-browed people, with great 
Spanish eyes and coal-black hair. The current of life here has the indolent, dreamy stillness 
that characterizes life in old Spain. In Spain, when you ask a man to do anything, instead 
of answering as we do, * In a 
minute,' the invariable reply 
is, 'In an hour;' and the 
growth and progress of St. Au- 
gustine have been according. 
There it stands alone, isolated, 
connected by no good roads 
or navigation with the busy 
living world. ' ' The streets are 
narrow, and consequently in 
that warm climate shaded and 
draughty. A vehicle is rarely 
seen on the streets, and the 
shifting sand lies over the bro- 
ken shell-concrete that for- 
merly paved the way. On each 
side are old Spanish houses, 
built of coquina stone, a pecu- 
liar conglomeration of fine 
shells and sand, which are first 
stuccoed and then whitewash- 
ed, while the quaint hanging 
balconies of the second stories 
almost touch from side to side. 
In the newer parts of the city 
are modern dwellings and ho- 
tels, and many elegant win- 
ter villas. At the northeast 
end of the town and fronting 
to the sea is the old fort of San 
Marco, built of coquina. It 
was begun in 1656, and accord- 
ing to the inscription, hand- 
somely cut in the stone under 
the arms of Spain, was finished one hundred years thereafter. It is a royal old pile. Its 
castellated battlements, its heavy bastions guarded by frowning guns, its lofty and imposing 
sally-ports encircled by the royal Spanish arms, its moat, drawbridge, and portcullis, its round 
and carved sentry-boxes at each prominent parapet-angle, its high lookout tower, and its time- 
marked and moss-grown, massive walls, make a fit exterior for the heavy casemates within, 
the dark passages, gloomy vaults, and hidden dungeons, the ruined Romish chapel, with its 
ornate portico, and inner altar, and holy-water niches; and one as he rambles through this 




Canyon of the Cataleuehe. 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



relic of departed ages dreams of knights in armor charging up to the walls, hears the solemn 
chanting of friars, and the rude laughter of the rough soldiers, and in the depths of the 
dungeons looks for a decaying skeleton, and listens for the clanking of rusty chains. The 
entire ocean-front of the city is protected by the Sea Wall, running from the water battery of 
the fort southward a mile. A delightful moonlight promenade is along the four feet wide 
granite coping of this wall. The Plaza de la Constitucion, a fine public square, with seats 
about it, lies in the centre of the town. Fronting on the square among other buildings is the 
striking old Catholic Cathedral. It has a quaint Moorish belfry, with four bells dating bark 

to 1682, and a clock so placed 
as to form a perfect cross. 
Tiiere are a number of other 
interesting and imposing 
buildings in the old city, and 
the lover of antiquities may 
find ample opportunity to 
gratify his taste. All about 
the city are pleasant points 
to which excursions are made, 
and a charming drive leads 
out St. George Street through 
the city gate, a relic of the 
old Spanish wall, with its 
carved towers, loop-holes and 
sentry boxes, forming a pictur- 
esque structure. The climate 
is that which prevails through- 
out the favored State, which, 
though ten degrees lower 
than Southern Italy, is so in- 
fluenced by the counter-cur- 
rents in the ocean as to main- 
tain an equable temperature 
no higher than that of the 
country across the sea. 

A city with a history is 
Charleston, South Carolina. 
Its name has figured in the 
annals of every war, from the 
proud day that saw the British 
balls sink in the palmetto 
logs of Fort Moultrie and 
the hostile ships sail away defeated, to the sad hour when Fort Sumter was fired 
upon. The .bright sunny winters, and a yearly mean temperature of sixty-six degrees draw 
many visitors, — the sick, who find here a delightful climate and the needed comforts of a city, 
and the gay, who make the year round a perpetual spring. There are many interesting drives 
along the Ashley and the Cooper rivers, and around Sullivan's Island. In the suburbs of the 
city are a number of old planters' houses, Drayton Hall, Middleton Place, and The Oaks 
beir^g especially notable, with their elegant lawns and the evidences of former splendor, on 




Sugar Fork Falls. 



HEALTH RESORTS OE THE SOUTH. 



which War laid a rude and unsparing hand. Magnolia Cemetery is lovely in shrubbery and 
flowers, and holds the remains of several distinguished men. The town itself has imposing 
public buildings, and some old and attractive churches, — amongst others the venerable St. 
Michael's, built in 1752, with tall belfry, holding sweet chimes; and St. Philip's, by who^e 
walls John C. Calhoun is buried. Interesting trips maybe made to the rich "Phosphate 
Mines," along the Ashley and Bull rivers, and to the forts and islands in the harbor. 

The climate and conditions of Savannah and Augusta are very similar to those of Charles- 
ton, and the three cities are much resorted to by consumptives and other invalids who desire 
to remain within the region of postal delivery. Savannah occupies a bluff on the river some 
forty feet high, running back to and including a portion of a plateau in the rear of the city. 




McDowell's Hill, French Broad River. 

There are twenty-four parks within the limits, and the whole city abounds in trees, shrubbery, 
and flower gardens, that bloom throughout the year. In the southern section is Forsyth Park, 
having an area of about forty acres. A notable object is the Pulaski Monument. There are 
lovely drives leading to White Bluff, Montgomery, Beaulieu, Isle of Hope, and Thunderbolt 
out on "The Salts." The finest drive, and one of the most picturesque in the country, is that 
to Bonaventure Cemetery, on Warsaw River, and about four miles from the city. It was once 
the residence of the Tatnalls, an old English family. The beautiful city of Augusta, the third 
in population in Georgia, lies at the head of navigation on the Savannah River, on a broad 
and picturesque sweep. The city is handsomely laid out, and is famous for its fine avenues, 
the principal one, ^-reen Street, being one hundred and sixty-eight feet wide, having a grass 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



space in the centre lined on each side by a row of shade trees. The Fair Grounds, occupying 
forty-seven acres, are just outside the city. On the high hills some three miles from Augusta 
is Summerville, a handsome suburb, where many Northerners own villas. Horse cars connect 
with the city, and many find this quiet and attractive little place preferable to the more 
populous points. There is a town of the same name some twenty-two miles from Charleston, 
on the South Carolina Railroad. On the line of the same road, sixteen miles from Augusta, 
and one hundred and twenty from Charleston, on a sandy plateau six or seven hundred feet 
above the sea, lies Aiken, the most frequented winter resort in the United States. There is 
scarcely any soil, and everywhere in the town is clean white sand. The air of Aiken is drier 
than that of any other prominent Southern resort, and in the matter of equability of temper- 
ature is surpassed only by San Diego. The mean temperature is as follows: Spring, 63.4°; 
summer, 79.1°; autumn, 63.70°; winter, 46.4°; for the year, 63.11^°. The average 
rainfall, as follows: Spring, 11.97 inches; summer, 13.89; autumn, 7.34; winter, 7.16; 

for the year, 40.36 inches. These 
data are from the record of 1870. 
The surroundings of Aiken are as 
tranquil as the temperature is equa- 
ble. Straight vistas run out over 
the sands through the sombre pine j 
woods that encircle the town. 
There are no hills to climb, no -falls 
to visit, no commanding views in 
the neighborhood one must see. 
The houses are the wide-porticoed 
typical Southern houses, with a 
chimney sustaining each side, a 
sunny, open yard, flowering vines, 
piles of roses, and the general hos- 
pitable, welcoming air. The little 
negroes drive a thriving trade in 
the sale of the fifty varieties of sand 
that are found here, ranging in 
color from green to brownish red, 
with now and then traces of blue. 
There is no business but that of 
Everything is peaceful and quiet, and the 




Cascades near Warm Springs. 



entertaining the guests, and no noise of traffic 

chief charm of life comes from the beauty of the clear winter days. 

The patient having in his sojourn in sunny climes become convalescent, will enjoy the 
exercise and tonic of a ramble in a mountainous country, and nowhere in the Appalachian 
system could he find a better field than in the northern districts of South Carolina, North 
Georgia, and Western North Carolina. One of the remarkable wonders of South Carolina is 
Table Mountain, (4300 feet high,) with a barricade of perpendicular cliffs, one thousand feet 
high on one side, which present a grand appearance from the wooded glens below. From the 
summit of the mountain may be had a fine view of the conspicuous Caesar's Head. The Falls 
of Slicking, a marvellous series of cascades and rapids, lie at the base of Table Mountain. 
Down the declivity two streams rush, joining at a point called the "Trunk," from which a 
most charming view of Caesar's Head, Bald Mountain, Pinnacle Rock, and adjacent peaks 
may be obtained. The two streams fall over seventy feet at this point into a glen, wild and 



HEALTH RESORTS OF THE SOUTH. 



113 



picturesque as any on the continent. The pretty mountain stream, the Keowee, runs through 
the rare little Jocasse Valley, and varies its course in a leap a t the White Water Cataracts. 
From Clarksville, Ha- 
bersham County, Geor- 
gia, there are several 
roads to the mountain 
country. A few miles 
from this town are the 
celebrated To ceo a 
Falls, where a stream 
comes through a chasm 
in the hills to tumble 
perpendicularly over a 
great rock from a 
height of one hundred 
and eighty-five feet, 
and upon reaching the 
bottom is dispersed in 
mist, which, visible 
to the eye against 
the dark background, 
waves to and fro in a 
weird manner. Tal- 
lulah Falls are distant 
twelve miles from 
Clarksville. Tallulah 
"the Terrible," a 
large stream, here 
breaks through the last 
obstacle in its eastward 
course, and for two 
miles, through a gorge 
of twelve hundred feet 
in depth and of unsur- 
passed grandeur, is 
dashed over deep falls, 
over great rocks, and 
broken into cascades 
in the wildest manner. 
It ■ requires steady 
nerves and strong mus- 
cles to visit the differ- 
ent points of interest 
along the edge of the 
chasm, or to scramble 
down its deep and 

rugged face to behold the mad struggle of the troubled river. The Falls are made 
up of numerous cataracts,— the Lodore, the Tempesta, the Oceana, and the Serpentine 




"Watauga Falls. 



114 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



among others. Two notable points are the Pulpit and the Trysting Rock; and the wild 
chasm is filled with imposing granite walls and boulders, leaping waters and deep gorges, 
which give it high rank in the scenery of our country. The Valley of Naobochee, the Falls 
of Eastatotia and Amicalolah, and Nickojack Cave are other points to be visited. A ride 
along the Richmond and Danville Railroad gives one an excellent idea of the scenery of 
the country. 

The mountain country just gone over, however, pales before the grand and impressive 
"Land of the Sky," in Western North Carolina. The Blue Ridge and the Great Smoky, 
two great mountain chains, encircle a plateau two hundred and fifty miles long and fifty broad, 
which is crossed by four transverse ranges, the Black, the Balsam, the Cullowhee, and the 
Nantsahala. The Black Mountains are the most famous, and include Mount Mitchell, the 
loftiest summit east of the Mississippi. The centre from which the route into the mountains 
diverge is Asheville, 2250 feet above the sea, and from this pretty town, with a charming 
climate, one may visit the Linville Gorge, with masses of broken, tumbled granite rocks 




A Glimpse of French Broad River. 

and beetling cliffs, 2000 feet high, with a river churning and dashing the ragged way, and 
traverse the picturesque Swannanoa Gap, around Cassair's Head into Cashier Valley, to climb 
the noble Whiteside Mountain, probably the most striking peak in the State. Five thousand 
feet high, its face is a tremendous curve of white rock, eighteen hundred feet high and two 
miles long. The face, at a distance apparently smooth, is in reality worn and eroded, having 
many peculiar recesses, amongst others the Devil's Supreme Court-house. One of the 
loveliest glens is the famous Hickory Nut Gap, through which the French Broad River runs 
past many a curiously carved pillar. The climbing of Mounts Pisgah and Mitchell is a 
matter of course, and the scenes from the summits repay the toil of the ascent. At the 
top of the latter lies buried in his monument Professor Mitchell, in honor of whom the 
mountain is named. A cairn of stones, to which each visitor adds his mite, is slowly building 
over the last resting-place of him who, while exploring the great mountain, was dashed to death 
in one of its many chasms. The CuUisaja, the Sugar Fork, and the Wautauga Falls are all 



FfEALTfi RESORTS OF THE SOUTrf. ,.- 

charming cascades, and some of the most beautiful scenery is found along the course of the 
Richmond and Danville Road, by the Canon of the Catalouche, and on the shores of the 
French Broad River. 

No one intending to travel South should expect to find a Paradise, and be enraptured 
everywhere. There are times and conditions that make many a trip sadly disappointing ; 
but "to him who in the love of Nature" goes abroad, this section of our great land will 
afford the widest opportunities to view her in some of her sweetest and most charming moods. 
The greatest mistake may be made by invalids who seek resorts indiscriminately, without 
regard to constitution or circumstances ; and many poor creatures in the last stages of fatal 
disease are torn from the comforts of a home to die amidst strangers. In all cases a competent 
physician should be consulted. The cities enumerated in the body of this article are, how- 
ever, helpful in almost all case^ requiring pure air, a steady temperature, and peaceful, 
quieting influences. 





i 



liaises and Rit/eFS. 

" How beautiful the water is ! 

To me 'tis wondrous fair — 
No spot can ever lonely be 

If water sparkle there : 
It hath a thousand tongues of mirth, 

Of grandeur or delight, 
And every heart is gladder made 

When water greets the sight." 

O nearly all mankind water hath its charms. The very mention of a beautiful lake, 
nth its settings of mountain steeps, woods and rocks, or a deep-running, winding 
iver, with its banks of verdure and flowers and shady nooks, is a suggestion of beau- 
tiful thoughts and pleasurable emotions. Moonlight on the water describes the very 
essence of romance. To the heat-oppressed inhabitants of the parched and dusty city, in July 
and August, the thought of being embowered in some cool retreat by the side of a lovely and 
picturesque lake or river is a picture of perfect comfort and earthly bliss. Of these retreats 
and the beauteous waters which make them attractive our own land has a bountiful supply. 
First of all is the great chain of lake son our northern "boundary, which clasp hands and extend 
from Minnesota to the shores of the Atlantic. These five sister lakes — Superior, Michigan, 
Huron, Erie, and Ontario — which pour their waters through the St. Lawrence to the ocean, 
are the most extensive inland seas in the world, and each has its distinguishing characteristics 
of scenery and suggestion. They all abound in features of interest to the tourist, and many 
delightful summer resorts are located on their borders. Lake Superior, the largest and most 
mysterious of the chain, whose waters are daily churned into a foam by the paddle-wheels of 
steamboats, is only^half explored in its northern shores, and strange and fairy-like tales are 
daily told by fur-traders and hunters of gold and silver, rubies and amethysts, copper and tin, 
to be found in the trackless regions washed by its waters. The celebrated Pictured Rocks, 
stretching from Munesing Harbor eastward along the southern coast, are among the wonders 
of the New World. Lake Michigan is perhaps the most beautiful of the series. Nothing is 
more soothing than the soft air wafted over its cool, sea-green waters ; nothing more delight- 
ful than a sight of its beautiful islands, shifting fogs, and unsurpassed Straits of Mackinaw. 
The Island of Mackinaw, a spot sacred to the Indians of the lakes, is scarcely lacking in any 
of the beauty or interest to be found in the Yosemite or Yellowstone national pleasure-grounds. 
Perhaps the most romantic of the chain is the deep blue Huron, with its wild shores and far- 
stretching woodland solitudes. Sault Ste. Marie, connecting it with Superior, is but little in- 
ferior in beauty to Mackinaw. No place in our country is so fraught with incidents relating 
to our national colonial life as Lake Erie. The spirit of Pontiac haunts the mouth of the 
Detroit River. On the shores of the lake every tree in the woods, as the winds sigh through 
its branches, whispers the name of Tecumseh, and his farewell to his British allies, with his 
declaration to lay his bones on the battle-field without retreating. The renowned resort of 
Put-in-Bay reminds the world of the immortal Perry and his famous dispatch, "We have met 
the enemy and they are ours;" and call to mind the dying words of Captain Lawrence, 
"Don't give up the ship," which Perry inscribed upon a flag, flung to the breeze from the 

mast-head of his vessel. Anthony Wayne's laconic field-order, " Charge the d d rascals," 

is remembered at the pronunciation of the name of Prcsque Isle. Charming and sublime On- 
tario, though in a degree dulled by the sublimity of Niagara Falls and the picturesque loveliness 
(ii6) 



LAKES AND RIVERS. 



117 



of the Thousand Islands, is surrounded by natural scenery of surpassing beauty, and forms a 
fitting climax to this sublime and beautiful series of great inland seas. 

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. 

The Northwest has, within the past ten years, developed many beautiful spots wherein the 
warm months of summer can be pleasantly passed, and where health and strength may be re- 
stored to the invalid. The States of Minnesota and Wisconsin have led the van in the number 
of these places offering attractions of scenery, climate, recreation and amusement. The resorts 
of Wisconsin, because they are so easily reached from the great centre — Chicago — and because 
they furnish all the attractions to be desired by the most fastidious, have become more noted 
than those in any other section, and many of them are rapidly acquiring a reputation that 
may well be envied by the older places of 
resort in the East. For all the many rea- 
sons that have made Wisconsin popular 
to the summer saunterer, has Lake Geneva 
taken the lead of Western resorts. It 
presents all the advantages that could be 
asked for as reganls climate, scenery, 
good society, and means of recreation and 
amusement. Lake Geneva lies forty-four 
miles southwest of Milwaukee, and sixty- 
two miles northwest of Chicago, as a bird 
flies 

The lake is nine miles long by about 
two wide. Its depth is very great, and in 
places no bottom has been found. It has 
no inlet, but is supplied entirely by pure 
spring water gushing from the hillsides 
along its picturesque shores. No slough 
or malarial pools are found about the 
lake, and a weed has never been seen in the 
lake, and no insects and flies, so common 
in weedy and marshy lakes, are here 
found. Its waters are so clear and trans- 
parent that the bottom, as well as fish and 
other objects, can easily be seen at a depth 
of thirty-five feet. Nothing but charming pebble and boulder shore-line is to be seen, and in 
places these boulders line the gracefully curving shore for miles in length, lying as neatly as if 
a master mason had fitted them in the line of beauty. The scenery is nowhere wild; it is such 
as painters love to delineate and lovers of art delight to view. The ever-changing hue of the 
waters from deep blue to ocean green, is, in itself, an enjoyable study, even to old acquaint- 
ances. Over the lake itself, in the last fallen hours of the day, hangs a curious purple-gray, 
making the freshly-painted boats and wooded banks seem like the pictures in a dream. In 
the shadows of the grove springs 

" That delicate forest flower, 
With scented breath and look so like a smile, 
The moss-clad violet, fragrant and concealed, . 

Like hidden charity." 




Summer Residence of N. K. Fairbank, of Chicago. 



OTA' AMERICAN RESORTS. 



Lake Geneva is different from other Western resorts in that it is distinctly a family watering- 
place. Its visitors come in June and stay until October. The entire twenty-five miles of its 
beautiful shore is occupied by the residences of wealthy citizens of Chicago and St. Louis, for 
the most part. The majority of these houses are expensive and elegant, and have been built 
at an expenditure of from twenty-five thousand to a quarter of a million dollars. The amount 
of money invested in these summer homes will foot up among the millions, and they give a 
character and prestige to Lake Geneva possessed by no other western resort. 

The lake has been artificially stocked with all kinds of game fish, and the fishing in the 
proper season is excellent and free to all. It is particularly noted as being the home of the 
" cisco," a species of white-fish found nowhere else in the world. In the full of the moon in 

Tune, these fish 



come to the sur- 
face, and for a few 
days thousands of 
them are caught 
with a hook. They 
then disappear 
and none have 
ever been seen 
during thebalance 
of the year. Dur- 
ing the " run " 
of the fish, the air 
is filled with a pe- 
culiar fly, which 
disappears with 
the ciscoes, not 
to be again seen 
till the next year. 
The fish caught 
from the lake are 
very gamy, par- 
ticularly the black 
bass. Dozens of 
small lakes fairly 
full of fish are 
located within a 
few miles from 
Lake Geneva, and 

are easily reached in an hour's drive. There are five public steam r; on the lake, which 
can carry from fifty to six hundred passengers. Besides these, many of the summer residents 
own steam yachts, which have the reputation of being the finest of their size in the country. 
The average is 75 feet long and cost from fifteen to thirty thousand dollars. Speed is the 
chief requisite of the private yachts. Sail yachts are numerous and sailing is very much 
enjoyed, many regattas taking place during the season. The hotel and boarding-house 
accommodations are ample and reasonable. The place has always been free from the charges 
of extortion often heard in connection with pleasure resorts. It has been called " the New- 
Dort of the West," and it is to Chicago what Newport is to New York. 




Summer Residence of Julian S. Rumsey. 



LAKES AND RIVF.RS. 



119 



Lake George, New York. 

This unrivalled gem of American lakes is found at the southwestern margin of the great 
Adirondack Wilderness, thirty-one miles north of Saratoga, and two hundred and eleven 
miles from New York. It is thirty-four miles long, running north and south, and varies from 
two to four miles in width. The lake is literally embowered in beautifully-wooded hills, 
which in many instances rise abruptly from its margin and attain an altitude of more than 
two thousand feet. Its pellucid waters come, entirely from the mountain brooks, and springs 
coming up from the bottom of the lake. Lake George is studded with many small islands- 
one for each day in the year, with one accommodating little fellow, which is«understood to be 
held in reserve for the 29th of February. Lake George is made interesting by history and 
legend as well as by the great beauty of its scenery, for which it is renowned throughout the 
the world. The battle of Lake George is a prominent event in our colonial history ; and the 
inhabitants, Hawkeye, Chin-gach-cook, Uncas, Alice, and Cora Munro, the creations of the 




Lake George — Ths Narrows. 

FROM STODDARD'S GUIDE TO LAKE GEORGE. 

genius of our great novelist, Cooper, will never be dispossessed of it, but will ever remain 
associated with it in the minds of all lovers of American literature. There can be no more 
charming excursion than a passage up and down this American Como affords. The wild, 
picturesque shores, the pretty little bays, the fascinating islands, the soft glamour of the water, 
and the towering bills, make an enchanting panorama. Caldwell, the principal resort, is .sit- 
uated at the head of the lake, and the village of Baldwin at the foot, where it empties into 
Lake Champlain. Across the point of the Lake from Caldwell is Crosbyside, quite a popular 
resort. Just east of Caldwell, and commanding the most beautiful view of the lake and its 
surroundings, is the far-famed Fort William Henry Hotel. Numerous other resorts are located 
along the shores of the lake, on the waters of which a regular line of steamboats is run, making 
three trips daily between Caldwell and Baldwin, touching at all of the intermediate landings. 
Caldwell may be reached via Delaware and Hudson Canal Railroad and its connections. 



OUR AMERrCAiY RESORTS. 



Otsego Lake, New York. 

This beautiful lake, situated in Otsego, County, New York, is about nine miles long and 
one to one and a half mile wide. J. Fenimore Cooper, the novelist, in his " Deer-slayer," 
thus describes the lake and surrounding hills: " On a level with the point lay a broad sheet 
of water, so placid and limpid that it resembled a bed of the pure mountain atmosphere 
compressed into a setting of hills and woods. At its northern end it was bounded by an 
isolated mountain ; lower land falling off east and west, gracefully relieving the sweep of the 
outline; still the character of the country was mountainous: high hills or low mountains 
rising abruptly from the water on quite nine-tenths of its circuit. But the most strikin<T 
peculiarities of the scene were its solemn solitude and sweet repose. On all sides, wherever 
the eye turned, nothing met it but the mirror-like surface of the lake, and the dense setting 

of woods. So rich 
and fleecy were the 
outlines of the for- 
est that the whole 
visible earth, from 
the rounded moun- 
tain-top to the 
water's edge, pre- 
sented one unva- 
ried hue of unbro- 
ken verdure." A 
recent writer says : 
"The same points 
still exist which 
Leather Stocking 
saw. There is the 
same beauty of 
verdure along the 
liills, and the sun still glints as brightly as then the 
ripples of the clear water." The scenery along the 
shores is extremely picturesque, and in the transparent 
vi'aters there is found an abundance of fish. The 
whole region is full of interest because of the creations 
of Cooper's genius, and his romances have a new 
zest and beauty when read amid the scenes which 
inspired them. Cooperstown, situated at the south 
end of the lake, is the principal resort in this section 
of the State. It is beautifully situated high up in the mountains in the midst of delightful 
scenery, and has a clear, bracing atmosphere. The old Cooper mansion where J. Fenimore 
Cooper lived was burned in 1854. The site is always visited by tourists, however, as is also 
the Tomb of Cooper, Cooper's Monument, Leather-Stocking Cave, Leather-Stocking Falls, 
and a hundred other points of interest in the vicinity. Two small steamers ply on the lake, 
touching at all points of interest along the shores, affording opportunities for delightful excur- 
sions. It is claimed that hay-fever is unknown here, and that victims of the disease always 
find relief. Cooperstown is reached via the Albany and Susquehanna and the Cooperstown 
and Susquehanna Valley Railroad. Distance from Albany, ninety-one miles. 




Otsego Lake, New York. 



LAKES AND RIVERS. 121 

Lake Winnepesaukee, New Hampshire. 

This beautiful sheet of water, lying in the central-eastern part of New Hampshire, has located 
on its shores some of the most attractive summer resorts in New England. The waters of the 
lake cover an area of over 70 square miles. It is quite irregular in outline, and very shallow, 
at no point attaining a depth of over two hundred feet. There are as many islands in the lake 
as there are days in the year. It is supposed that the bottom of the lake contains many large 
springs, as the streams which flow into it are altogether incompetent to create the great mass 
of water which it contains. " There may be," says Bartol, " lakes in Tyrol and Switzerland 
which, in particular effects, exceed the charms of any in the western world ; but in that 
wedding of the land with the water, in which one is perpetually approaching and retreating 
from the other, nothing can be held to surpass, if to match, our Winnepesaukee." From the 
shore the range of vision is soon stopped by the islands, which can hardly be separated from 
each other in the dim distance, but from the summit of any one of the numerous mountains 
which surround the lake the whole extent of its surface is spread out like a map and glitters in 
the sunlight like a sheet of crystal sprinkled with emeralds. Centre Harbor, at the head of 
the long' North Bay of the lake is one of the chief summer resorts of this region. It is a 
small hamlet occupying an excellent position for studying and appreciating the beauties of the 
lake. The steamers " Lady of the Lake" and " Mt. Washington " touch at this point three 
or four times daily, and stages leave every afternoon for Moultonborough and West Ossipee. 
Wolf borough, the terminus of a branch of the Eastern Railroad, is the largest village on Lake 
Winnepesaukee. It is prettily situated at the foot of Wolfborough Bay, the most easterly 
projection of the lake, and commands a view of the entire bay and part of the open lake. 
It is a popular and greatly-frequented resort. The lake steamers touch at Wolfborough several 
times daily. Alton Bay, at the southern extremity of the lake, and the terminus of the Dover 
and Winnepesaukee branch of the Boston and Maine Railroad, has good fishing and offers 
good views of the White Mountains, but is less popular as a resort than most of the other 
villages on the shores of the lake. This place is also one of the landings of the " Lady of the 
Lake " and " Mt. Washington." Other pretty but less frequented resorts, as Weir's, Meredith, 
Moultonborough and others, afford fine views of lake and mountain scenery, and are splendid 
starting-points for numerous excursions by water, stage, carriage, or for foot tours. They are 
all reached by stage and the lake steamers, and some of them by rail. Edward Everett, in 
speaking of a trip by steamer from Weir's Landing to Centre Harbor said that he had been 
something of a traveller in our own country, and in Europe had seen all that was most 
attractive, but his eye had yet to rest upon a lovelier scene than that which smiled around him 
as he sailed from Weir's to Centre Harbor. 

Lake Menaph rem agog, Yt. 

Away in Northern New England, nestling among the mountains, partly in Vermont and 
partly in Canada, is lovely Lake Memphremagog, declared by many enthusiastic tourists to be 
equal in beauty to Lake George. It is thirty miles long and about two miles wide, and ex- 
tends in a curve, following the mountain range, from Coventry, Vt., to Magog, Canada. Its 
clear, pure waters are the home of many large speckled trout, which invite the disqiple of 
Isaac Walton to sojourn here and try his skill. Its shores are of varying character and outline 
— now high and rugged cliffs wall in the waters, again thickly wooded hills guard the shores, 
and anon the sweet green meadows stretch out and touch the margin of the quiet lake with 
their pebbly, sandy margins. Numerous gems of islands bedeck the lake, many of which are 
cultivated, and some (chief among which is Tea-Table Island,) are devoted entirely to pleasure. 

9 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



A trip up and down the lake affords the tourist a continual succession of beautiful scenes. On 
Lake Memphremagog, as at most lake resorts, the mountains only furnish a background for the 
charming lake scenery itself. Newport, Vt., at the head of the lake, is, perhaps, the principal 




Lake Memphremagog, Vermont. 

resort in this region, though the tourist will see in a sail down the lake many pleasant summer 
hotels show their low white buildings on the shore, and from time to time pretty villas rising 
among the embowering trees. Newport, three hundred and sixty-five miles from New York, 
and two hundred and thirty from Boston, may be reached via the Passumsic and connecting 
railways. 

Moosehead Lake, Maine. 

Among the northern hills, on the vtxg't of the great Maine forest, stretching away into a 
wild and yet mostly uninhabited region, is Moosehead Lake, the largest sheet of water in the 
Pine-Tree State. It is ten hundred and twenty-three feet above the level of the sea, into 
which, by way of the Kennebec River, it ])ours its waters. Its shores are of irregular outline, 
and its waters deep, clear, and cold, furnishing ample occupation to the angler in their stores 
of trout and other fish. Vast numbers of game, including deer and moose, still frequent the 
densely wooded boundaries of the lake. Owing to these facts it has in recent years possessed 
a high reputation among tourists and sportsmen. Greenville, a small village on the southern 
extremity, is the only permanent settlement on the borders of the lake, though several summer 
hotels are located in the vicinity. A small steamboat plies daily between Greenville and 
Mount Kineo, a prominent summer resort and favorite stopping-place on the east shore. The 
steamer also makes pleasure trips to the northern end of the lake, the passage to which affords 
a panoran^c succession of fine scenery. The most striking and imposing scene along the 
shor,es is Mount Kineo, which rises precipitously from the water to a height of over six hun- 
dred feet. The summit of the mountain, which is easily reached from the hotel located at 
its base, reveals a magnificent picture of forest, mountain, and water. From no point can so 
fine a view be obtained of grand old Mount Katahdin as from the top of Mount Kineo. The 
chief drawback to a visit to this or any portion of the Maine woods is the blackfly, which 
from the middle of June to the first or middle of August are " masters of the situation," 
though at other portions of the season they are not troublesome. Greenville may be reached 
by stage from Skowhegan, Dexter Station, or Guilford, all of which places have railway 
connections. 




(123) 



124 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



Lake Champlain, Hew York. 

Few places in America have so many historical and romantic associations as Lake Cham- 
plain. It was known to the Hurons, Algonquins, Iroquois, and other tribes of Indians, as 
the "Gate of the Country," and was the centre of as many striking events in their rude 
warfare as it afterward proved when the French, English, and Americans expended life and 
treasure in struggles for its possession. Crown Point, Fort Ticonderoga, (which still remains, 
a most picturesque old ruin,) and many other places along its borders are invested with 
especial interest connected with our colonial history, the revolutionary war, and the war of 
1812. Lake Champlain was the arena of one of the most brdliant naval feats in the last- 
named war — the defeat and capture of nearly the entire British fleet by Commodore 
McDonough. In this naval battle Commodore McDonough had fourteen vessels, eighty six 




Lake Champlain, New York. 

guns, and four hundred and fifty men, while Captain Downie. who commanded the British 
fleet, had sixteen vessels, ninety-five guns, and one thousand men. The American com- 
mander's success was due entirely to the skilful management of his vessels^ and the bravery 
of his men. Since that event the waters of Lake Champlain have been unruffled by strife. 
Fleets still sail over the lake, but the ships bear charmed and delighted tourists; armies still 
invade the surrounding territory and scale the mountain heights on the shore, but they are 
armies of enraptured and gratified summer visitors and health-seekers. Lake Champlain lies 
between the Green Mountains on the east and the Adirondacks on the west, on the border- 
line between Vermont and New York. It is one hundred and twenty-six miles long, of 
varying width, and of very irregular shape, beginning in a series of long, crooked reaches, so 
narrow that it would be difficult or impossible to turn an ordinary steamboat in them, and 



LAKES AND RIVERS. ,2t- 

widening above Ticonderoga, until at a point near Burlington, Vermont, it attains a width of 
ten miles. While the lake is surrounded with mountain ranges which stretch far away on 
either hand, there is an absence of steep clififs directly on the water, a general characteristic 
of the shores of our northern lakes. Broad acres of beautiful meadow and farm lands are 
frequently seen sloping down to the shores, upon which smiling homes are located, and where 
peace and plenty have their abode. This beautiful little inland sea, with its sister, Lake 
George, will always remain among the most favored goals of summer pilgrimage. A trip on 
Lake Champlain by the elegant and commodious passenger-steamers which ply between the 
different places and points of interest, is indescribably delightful. Burlington, Vermont, sit- 
uated on the eastern shore of the lake, has in recent years become quite a popular headquarters 
for tourists whose objective points are the Green Mountains, the Adirondacks, and places of 
interest along the lake. Tourists having "done" the White and Green Mountains, and 
proposing a trip through the Adirondacks, will have the pleasure of their "vacation " greatly 
heightened by tarrying a few days at Burlington and indulging in some of the many delighiful 
excursions that may be taken from here. From Burlington the visitor may take the boat, cross 
to Port Kent, and go down to Plattsburgh, from whence, by the New York and Canada Rail- 
road, Ausable chasm may be visited. Plattsburgh is one of the favorite entrances to the 
Adirondack region. Probably one of the finest tours for its length in the world, which 
includes a sail over Lakes George and Champlain, may be taken from New York up the 
unrivalled Hudson to Albany, through Saratoga, over the lakes, through the whirling rapids, 
and past the Thousand Islands of the far-famed St. Lawrence, on the broad bosom of Ontario, 
to Niagara Falls, and back to the metropolis through the varied beauties of the Empire State. 

Chautauqua Lake, New York. 

Among the many beautiful inland lakes in the Empire State none deserves a wider notice 
than that of Chautauqua — a body of purest water, seven hundred and eighty feet above Lake 
Erie and only eleven miles distant — with the thriving village of Jamestown at its southerly 
end and Maysville at its northerly. Its name, of Indian origin, was early given to the terri- 
tory now famed as Chautauqua County. Years ago it became known that this lake, then sup- 
posed to be the highest navigable water on the continent, was surrounded by a beautiful region 
of country — with a summer climate pure, and healthful, and invigorating — and year by year 
many visitors, leaving the crowded cities, had gone into camp on the beautiful banks of this 
delightful lake, whiling away the restful days in capturing pickerel, a fish that grows to 
immense proportions in its crystal waters. As time wore on it was discovered that the health- 
ful atmosphere of this region was a panacea and sure cure for and safe protection against 
"hay fever," and multitudes flocked hither to find exemption from this fearful malady. In 
1873 Rev. John H. Vincent, D.D., a man of world-wide fame, now known as the "Bishop 
of Chautauqua," camped on the shores of this beautiful lake— for a re'^pite from labor and 
weary toil. He came for rest, but while here he carved out the " Chautauqua idea" of ele- 
vating humanity by furnishing them with healthful recreation under moral and Christianizing 
influences. In the summer of 1874 he initiated and called together the first annual "Assem- 
bly," which was held for two weeks in a beautiful grove near the foot of the lake at Fair 
Point, now known all over the world as Chautauqua. This first experiment meeting with such 
unexpected success, an organization was effected and a charter with ample powers was obtained 
from the State of New York. Lands were purchased, and the foundations were laid for a 
growth that has ripened into a summer resort with a thousand elegant cottage homes — with a 
grand hotel costing one hundred thousand dollars, a city with elegant walks and parks, lit 
with electric lights, with all the comforts and conveniences of Cape May, Long Branch, and 



126 



OUR AMERICAN RESORT S. 



Saratoga. Year by year these summer gatherings have increased, and many families from the 
South own cottages to which these families come to spend the entire summer. The organiza- 
tion now owns one hundred and twenty-five acres of land and has a plant of two hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars. It is known as a " University in the Woods," has a Hall of Phi- 
losophy, a Children's Temple, an Alumni Hall, a Park of Palestine, Model of Jerusalem, a 
Tabernacle in the Wilderness, section of the Pyramid Cheops, an Oriental Museum, an 
immense auditorium and an amphitheatre seating seventy-five hundred, etc., etc. It has a 
school of languages, its Chautauqua library and scientific circle, with circles and members all 




Cliautauqua Lake, New York. 

over the world. Its annual Sunday-school assembly collects together thousands of the brightest 
and foremost thinkers in this and other lands. It is safe to say that one hundred thousand 
persons visit this charming resort each summer. Fully a dozen steamboats ply upon the lake, 
with bands playing and banners flying, making summer a grand hey-day of pleasure. Chau- 
tauqua Point, Griffith's, Lake View, Mayville, and Jamestown have large hotels, which are 
filled to overflowing during the gay season. Chautauqua is reached from Washington, Balti- 
more and Philadelphia via the Pennsylvania Railroad, connecting with the Buffalo and West- 
ern at Corry or via same to Buffalo. From New York take New York Central to Buffalo, or 
the Erie to Mayville. 

Greenwood Lake, Ne\Y York. 

In Orange County, New York, near the line of the Erie Railway, nearly hidden by rugged 
mountains, and surrounded by scenery, which for grandeur and picturesque loveliness is 
unsurpassed, is little Greenwood Lake. It is ten miles in length and scarcely one mile in 
width. The forests, with which the surrounding mountains are clothed, reach to the banks 



LAKES AND RIVERS. 



127 



of the lake, the waters of which are cold and deep, and so beautifully clear that fish, with which 
it is plentifully supplied, may be seen many 
feet below the surface. The pleasure here 
afforded tourists for boating is unsurpassed. 
A small steamer plies on the lake, making 
two trips from end to end daily. A num- 
ber of excellent summer hotels are located 
here. In the vicinity of Greenwood Lake, 
— which is often called "Miniature Lake 
George," from its resemblance in some of 
its features to that queen of beautiful lakes 
— are a number of other little less lovely 
lakes and lakelets. Greenwood Lake may 
be reached by stages from Monroe, a station 
on the Erie Railway, fifty miles from New 
York, or from Greycourt, on the same rail- 
way, four miles further on. Another route 
is via Montclair and Greenwood Lake Rail- 
road. The stage-ride from Monroe and 
Greycourt is interesting and delightful. 




Greenwood Lake, New Vork. 



DeYil's Lake, Wisconsin. 

Among the myriads of lakes glistening among beautiful surroundings in the " Great North- 
west " there is none that can be called more wonderful and romantic than Devil's Lake, 
located thirty-six miles northwest of Madison, not far from the station Baraboo, on the Chi- 
cago and Northwestern Railroad. This 
charming and mysterious sheet of 
water, without visible inlet or outlet, 
is supposed to occupy the crater of 
an extinct volcano. The gloomy 
bluffs which wall in the clear cold 
waters of the lake, and some of which 
rise over seven hundred feet from its 
margin, are in striking contrast with 
the surrounding scenery. The bar- 
riers to the lake, beautiful in its 
strange captivity, are composed of a 
mass of loosened rocks, piled in gro- 
tesque confusion as if hurled aloft in 
the grim sport of some Titanic race, 
while the surrounding country is, for 
a good part, a sandy waste. To the 
Lidian, ignorant of the processes of 
nature. Devil's Lake was a sacred 
body of water. Says a writer in a 
recent number of " Harper's Maga- 
zine," visiting at this resort: "The ponderous blocks of Devil's Doorway could only 
have been placed upon their piers of smaller stones by some superhuman agency, and a 




Devil's Lake, ^A/■iseonsin. 



128 '■'l-^J^ AMERICAN RESORTS. 

cleft rock, perched on a dizzy height, and supported by a single prop of nicely-fitted 
blocks, was the unquestioned work of some Manitou. Add to this the lake without overflow 
or source, unprecedented in savage observation, and the effect was overwhelming ; and the 
swarthy hunter, pursuing his game over smiling prairies, came with awe before these strange 
deep waters in the stern and desolate temple of some unknown deity. The wounded stag, 
dashing into its cooling waves, escaped pursuit; the very fish roamed in shoals unsought, and 
so strong was this superstitious dread tha: the dying warrior perished in agony rather than 
profane its waters with human lips." As thij mysterious and picturesque lake is becoming 
more widely known it is visiteci by increasing numbers of tourists, and is invariably included 
in the round made bv "doers" of "The Dells" and other resorts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. 



Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. 

Within the borders of a vast forest of hardwood timber extending across the State of 
Minnesota from the vicinity of Sauk Rapids, on the Upper Mississippi, to near the Iowa line, 
are hundreds of beautiful lakes of crystal water, which are attractive to the huntsman and 
tourist. The most fashionable resorts among these lakes is Minnetonka. The name of the 




Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. 



lake in the language of the Sioux Indians, who less than a quarter of a century since aban- 
doned its shores, signifies "Big Water." Minnetonka is made up of a series of bays, some 
twenty-five in number, which form a chain of what appears to be a succession of lakes, which 



LAKES AND RIVERS. X29 

are joined by estuaries, many of which are navigable by steamers. This series of irregular- 
shaped bays covering an area of over six hundred acres, give ample room for all kinds of rural 
enjoyment. The heavily-timbered banks, the numerous jutting points and crooked beaches, 
the stretches of marsh resembling vast lawns, and the numerous picturesque islands, combine 
to form pictures of varied beauty most pleasing to the eye. Says a recent visitor to Lake 
Minnetonka: "The Big Woods nearly incloses the lake in its midst, and cosy summer resorts 
nestle beneath the branches of the great monarchs of the forest, on the banks of the beautiful 
bays, while villages and hotels have sprung up at the most convenient and available points. 
Steamers ply on its crystal waters to carry pleasure-seekers to their destination, and fleets of 
sail and row-boats are to be found at all points of the lake, to supply the demand of fishing 
parties. Even the least frequented bays begin to show signs of civilization in newly-erected 
cabins, where some straggling sportsman settles down for a comfortable summer in the deep 
recesses of the wildwood, where he can be free from the annoyance of the fashionable crowds 
who frequent other parts of the lake." The lake is located fifteen miles southwest of Minneap- 
olis, and twenty-five miles from St. Paul. Minnetonka Park is the principal resort on the 
lake. It is reached by the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. 

Devil's Lake, Dakota. 

This magnificent sheet of water, called by the Indians " Mini-wakan," is located midway 
between the Red River of the North and the Missouri River, about fifty-five miles south of 
the international boundary line. . It is included in an immense body of land which was until 
very recently supposed to be the property, by treaty, of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Indians. 
The present Secretary of the Interior discovered that they had not a shadow of claim to the 
land, which is now being surveyed and opened to settlement. The water of the lake is dense 
and salt and green, closely resembling the ocean. The lake is nearly sixty miles in length and 
fifteen miles in width. It is surrounded by swells of hills varying in height from twenty to 
two hundred and fifty feet. The northern side is bordered by hills that are well wooded and 
furrowed by ravines and coulees. The opposite side has less timber, but is also quite hilly. 
Fish of large size are found in the lake. There are many jutting promontories along the coast, 
and many handsome islands scattered over its surface, giving a most beautiful effect to the 
scene which a sail over its waters presents. The land around Devil's Lake is rolling prairie 
of the richest description. Analysis shows that the water of the lake contains sulphates of 
soda and magnesia (epsom and glauber salts), and chlorides of soda (common salt), and 
magnesia. These medicinal properties, taken in connection with the magnificent climate, is 
certain to attract tourists from all parts of the world, and Mini-wakan will become as famous 
as a summer resort as the country around it will be for productiveness. A projected branch 
of the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway will soon be constructed to Devil's Lake. 

The Great Rivers. 

And see the rivers how they run 

Through woods and meads, in shade and sun, 

Sometimes swift, sometimes slow. 

Wave succeeding wave, they go 

A various journey to the deep, 

Like human life, to endless sleep! 

Prominent among the rivers of the world, for scenery and beauty, rank our own glorious 
Hudson, the wonderful St. Lawrence, and the picturesque Upper Mississippi. Even the world- 
famed Rhine is surpassed by the Hudson, which has a considerable advantage in size, though 



13° 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



in the length of its navigable portion the latter is a small river when compared with either 
the Mississippi, the Missouri, the St. Lawrence, the Rhine, or the Danube. The fame of the 
Hudson — its location and legendry — is known to all the world. The Highlands, incomparable 
for the combined beauty and majesty of their scenery, and the curious rocky wall, known as 
the Palisades, extending for miles, from Fort Lee to Piermont, give this noble American river 
a character wholly its own. Whether viewed from the window of a Wagner car, or from the 
deck of one of the "floating palaces " borne upon its waters — in the changing light of day, 
or the mysterious charm of a full moon, the experience of a first glance at its panoramic love- 
liness will always be remembered. Starting out from the New York wharf for a sail up the 
Hudson, the scene at the very outset is one of unequalled animation. The river here has 
broadened into a bay several miles wide, which is covered with craft of every kind — great 
steamers from over the sea, enormous sailing vessels, crowded ferry-boats, noisy tug-boats, 
yachts, barges, and fishing boats, all hurrying to and fro in the line of their various missions. 
Before the limits of the metropolis are passed the scene is changed, and the eye is charmed by 
the green wooded hills of Westchester on one hand, and the frowning precipices of the Pali- 
sades on the other. For 
twenty miles this mighty 
dyke of basaltic trap-rock 
shuts off" the western sky, 
then suddenly disappears, 
and the view opens upon 
the rolling hills and blue 
outlines of the distant 
mountains. Then for a 
score of miles above, the 
river winds among the rug- 
ged mountains of the 
Highlands, its channel con- 
tracted to barely half a mile 
in width, until at the nor- 
thern limit of these crags 
another portal opens and 
presents to view the beau- 
tiful landscape beyond. 
Tourists to the Catskills usually include the scene, o. the Hudson by making the trip up the 
river by boat. All along the route from New York to Poughkeepsie may be seen elegant 
summer residences and villas of wealthy New Yorkers, and at various points there are excel- 
lent hotels largely patronized during the warm months by residents of the city. 

The Upper Mississippi is one of the watercourses much enjoyed by tourists in the summer 
season. The scenery from Des Moines to St. Paul is varied and interesting, and there are 
many points of special attraction. A tour through this section gives an opportunity to see 
the falls of Minnehaha, immortalized by Longfellow, and the famous Dells of the Wisconsin 
River, second only to the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence. These Dells are among 
the later wonders of our western world. Just before reaching the locality a quick succession 
of dissolving views is caught through waving boughs of a winding river deep down between 
massive walls of rock, its silvery surface set with rocky islands capped with green, and the 
whcle crowned by a glorious confusion of receding hills and slopes. The upper and lower 
Dells form together an irregular gorge some ten miles in length, walled in with sandstone rock 




The Highlands of the Hudson. 




.131) 



j^2 OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 

from thirty to one hundred feet in height, upon which nature's resource of various design has 
well-nigh been exhausted. An explanation of this strange and fantastic formation has been 
given in rhyme : 

" How were all those wondrous objects formed among the pond'rous rocks ? 
Some primeval grand upheaval shook the land with frequent shocks; 
Caverns yawned and fissures widened ; tempests strident filled the air, 
Madly urging foaming surges through the gorges opened there ; 
With free motion, toward the ocean rolling in impetuous course, 
Rushing, tumbling, crushing crumbling rocks v\ith their resistless force ; 
And the roaring waters, pouring on in ever broadening swells, 
Eddying, twirling, seething, whirling, formed the wild Wisconsin Delk." 

But of all American rivers the St, Lawrence possesses the greatest attractions for tourists. 
There is not another tour of equal distance in the world that presents such a combination of 
beauty, excitement, and interest as that across Lake Ontario into the St. Lawrence through 
the picturesque Thousand Islands and down the wild and boisterous rapids to the metropolis 
of Canada and the quaint, historic city of Quebec. This trip is generally made by tourists 
from Niagara Falls, in one direction, or omitting the lake portion, from Kingston on the 
Grand Trunk Railway, or from Trenton Falls via Clayton, a terminus of the Utica and Black 
River Railway ; or still again from Cape Vincent, on the New York Central Railway. Almost 
immediately after setting out from the latter points the steamer enters that portion of the river 
known as the Thousand Islands. Here, according to the Treaty of Ghent, sixteen hundred 
and ninety-two islands of various sizes and shapes push their heads up through the waters, and 
through and among them the river winds its tortuous course. Such a scene as here presents is 
not to be found anywhere else in the known world. It is a wilderness of islands, some so 
small as to be barely visible, others acres in extent ; some presenting to the view nothing but 
bare masses of rock, while others are covered with a thick forest of foliage, green and fresh 
in summer and tinged with all the colors of the rainbow in autumn. Mighty river and inland 
sea, mountain and plain, island and continent, nature in her sweet and placid aspect and in 
her dark and awful mood, all are blended here to form that singular combination of elements 
which the Iroquois Indians so appropriately named Man-a-to-ana — the Garden of the Great 
Father. A writer in " Harper's Magazine " thus discourses of the scene : "Islands to right 
of us, islands to left of us, islands in front of us, lift up their heads, crowned here with jut- 
ting rocks, there with forest trees, and again flanked by grassy slopes extending to the water's 
edge, and fringed with trees whose drooping branches reach down their leafy tips to drink the 
clear green waters of the river. The view grows more charming as we proceed. Channels 
open between the islands in every direction, and as our little steamer drives swiftly along the 
main and broadest channel, the shifting scenes go by us like a panorama. To our left still 
lies Wells's Island, nine miles long, shutting out all view beyond, while off to the right we 
catch through the rock-bound channels an occasional glimpse of the American mainland. A 
run of half an hour more brings us to Alexandria Bay. This is the central point of interest. 
For ten miles up and an equal distance down the river the islands lie thickest, the cottages 
are most numerous, and the fishing most alluring. The village, which takes its name from the 
bay, is perched upon a rocky headland on the American shore." Westminster Park and 
Poplar Bay are two noted points in this neighborhood, the latter taking its name from a 
group of five Poplar-trees on the edge of Wells's Island. It looks out upon a great sheet of 
water, three miles wide and several miles long, studded with islands, whose craggy sides are gray 
with lichen, spangled with mossy cushions, and belted across with long seams, out of which 
grow ferns and wild flowers that none can ever hope to touch with human fingers. 



LAKES AND RH'ERS. 



"^IT^ 



Many tourists rush through the Thousand. Islands by daylight, in true American style, on a 
big steamer, drop the morning paper or latest novel" just long enough to glance over the rail 
at a pretty vista of channel or a cosy island home, and imagine they have seen the Thousand 
Islands. Just so the swift Yankee spends fifteen mortal minutes by the watch in "doing" 
the Louvre, or St. Peter's, or the galleries at Munich. Whoever does that loses one of the 
most inspiring opportunities of a lifetime. There is only one such archipelago in the world, 
and no man looking for the gems of nature's handiwork can afford to sail through the Thousand 
Islands and not know what they are. To really know what the Thousand Islands are, one 
should stop among them for at least a week or two, ])ut up at a good hotel, secure a skiff for 
the term of his stay, and then paddle in and out of these beautiful coves and bays, across and 




General View of the Thousand Islands 

through these winding and rock-bound channels, and visit island, and promontory, and cliff. 
He must float slowly over this clearest of all water on a calm day^ and see the vast aquarium 
beneath his keel, where six, eight, twelve feet down through the green sparkling river, is such 
an under-water garden as the wildest fancy never dared to picture. One of the great attractions 
of the Thousand Islands is the fishing. It is the great fishing-ground of America. The great 
catch is pickerel, which may be taken even by inexperienced fishermen, and muskalonge, 
weighing twenty pounds or less — generally less — are caught in great numbers. The air of the 
Thousand Islands is heavily charged with ozone, the first effect of which is to induce a 
delicious drowsiness. The wholesome effect of this air upon consumptives, however, is due 
not only to the ozone, but also to the piny breezes blowing across the vast Canadian forests, 
and gathering new richness from the woods of the islands themselves. The island air is. 



134 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



moreover, remarkable for its dryness. The ladies may play croquet in slippers in the early 
morning without gathering any dampness from the grass; and neither piazzas nor ham- 
mocks threaten their occupants even at night with rheumatism or ague. Excellent bath- 
ing can be had at many points where sandy beaches are found. In the season there is 
good duck-shooting upon the river, the birds being mostly of the teal variety. Another 
water-fowl, passing here under the name of loon, but probably misnamed, frequents these 
waters in the fall of the year, and stories are told of the immense quantities a skilful 
sportsman may bag, which need to be taken, as the birds are, ciun gf-ano sa//s. 

Leaving the Thou- 
sand Islands, the steamer 
passes almost immedi- 
ately into the wonderful 
rapids, and the tourist 
enters upon the most 
exciting and exhilara- 
ting portion of this trip. 
The increasing speed of 
the vessel soon after 
passing Morrisburg is 
the signal which sets 
passengers upon the t/ui 
vive. The first rapid, 
or series of rapids, is 
;/ known as the Long 
Sault. This is a con- 
tinuous rapid for nine 
miles. The river is di- 
vided in the centre by 
an island. In former 
years the descent of this 
rapid was made through 
the south channel only, 
the north channel being 
considered too danger- 
ous, but recent exam- 
inations have proved 
that either chrnnel can 
be descended with safe- 
ty. The south channel 




"^^^^^ 



Running the Rapids of the St. Lawrence River. 



is very narrow, and the swiftness of the current is so great that a raft will drift nine miles in 
forty minutes, which is equal to the speed of the swiftest steamboats in still water. The rapids 
of the Long Sault rush along at a speed of twenty miles i)er hour. The sensation while in this 
rapid is unlike that when descending its successors. The Long Sault reminds one of the ocean 
in a storm, except that the swift going down hill in a steamboat is, to most persons, an entirely 
new experience, and the steep descent is fully realized if one has neglected to take hold of 
some stationary portion of the steamer. The terrific roar and seething violence of the river 
is intensely fascinating. Great nerve and power are required in piloting the steamer, so as to 
keep her straight ahead and in the channel, as a slight deviation would turn the steamer side- 



LAKES AND RIVERS. 



-^z^ 




A Glimpse of Ottawa. 



ways, in which case she would be instantly capsized and submerged. But the discipline and 
system are so perfect in the management of the steamboat lines that such a thing is never likely 
to happen. While descending the rapids a tiller is attached to the rudder as an extra precau- 
tion, and the force required to keep the steamer straight in her course is so great that four 
men are kept constantly at 
the wheel and two at the 
tiller. Leaving the Long 
Sauk Rapids, and passing 
through Lake St. Francis, 
a distance of forty miles, 
Cedar Rapids are next 
reached, then the Split 
Rock Rapids, Lake St. 
Louis, and the Lachine 
Rapids. The passage 
through the Cedars is very 
exciting. There is a pecu- 
liar motion of the steamer, 
which in descending 
seems like settling down 
as she glides from one 
ledge of rock to another. 
This is supposed to be owing to the existence of a strong under-current. It was in these rapids 
that a detachment of three hundred men, under General Amherst, were lost in 1 759. The quiet 
passage of twelve miles through Lake St. Louis serves to stimulate curiosity in regard to the La- 
chine Rapids, which are nine miles from Montreal, and are the last rapids of importance on the 
St. Lawrence. The velocity and fierceness of the current are so great, that to avoid the rapids 
r~~ -; Mmsr_^^, — ^ — *,;vtv - '3;_iT^:._ p^=:.»:sa=4 the Lachine Canal was 

: constructed, and, during 
stormy weather, is used 
for passage from Lachine 
to Montreal. The La- 
chine Rapids are the most 
difficult of navigation of 
any on the St. Lawrence. 
Baptiste, an Indian pilot, 
has made it his business 
for over forty years to pilot 
steamers down these rap- 
ids; during the summer 
season he is exclusively in 
the service of the passenger 
^iii^ steamers, shooting these 

A Glimpse of Quebec. „„.^:j j j i • i -i 

rapids, and under his skil- 
ful guidance there is entire safety in passing through them. But if the day is stormy, 
or a south wind prevails, the tourist leaves .the rapids behind him with a grateful sense of relief, 
especially if his point of observation has been the bow of the boat. With rocks ahead and 
rocks beneath, asserting their presence by impudent thumps against the steamer's keel, the 




136 



OUR AMERICAN RESOR'/S. 




Cape Etetnily and Cape Tiiiiiiy 



Ljucnay River. 



experience is seasoned with just enough thought of danger to give it zest ; and when one is as- 
sured beyond doubt that there is not the least real danger, the excitement becomes a pleasure. 
The trip down the St. Lawrence is incomplete without a visit to the French Canadian cities 
of Ottawa, Montreal, and Quebec. The scenery in and around all these cities is peculiar and 

impressive. Mont 
real, the metropolis 
of British North 
America, from its 
many commanding 
features of interest, 
is the objective for 
the majority of tour- 
ists to this section. 
The city is situated 
on an island of the 
same name, lies at 
the base of Mt. Roy- 
al, from which the 
name was taken. The 
drive around the 
mountain is delight- 
ful. The summit is 
reached by a splen- 
did carriage-road covering a distance of eight miles, thus rendering the ascent very easy, 
and from several places during the ride a bird's eye view of the entire city and the ma- 
jestic St. Lawrence may be had, with the Lachine Rapids in the distance. This mountain^ 
possessing many wonderful natural advantages, is being converted into a magnificent park, 
which, when completed, will not be excelled in size and beauty. Quebec, founded in 1608, 
is one of the oldest cities 
in North America, and 
also one of the most in- 
teresting. The plan of 
the city is nearly a trian- 
gle, the Plains of Abraham 
forming the base and the 
rivers St. Lawrence and 
St. Charles the sides. The 
city is divided into two 
parts, known as the upper 
town and the lower town. 
The upper town is strongly fe^^^^^T^' 
fortified, and includes 
within its limits the cita- 
del of Cape Diamond, which covers the entire summit of the promontory, and embraces 
an area of more than forty acres. St. John and St. Louis, suburbs, are also included in the 
upper town. The citadel occupies a commanding site, three hundred and forty-five feet above 
the river, and is the strongest fortress in America. Quebec is pre-eminently the stronghold 
of Canada, and is called the "key of the province." The citadel, from its great elevation. 




Trinity Cove, Saguenay River. 



LAKES AND RIVERS. 



137 



affords a fine view of the river and surrounding country. The line of fortifications inclosing 
the citadel and upper town is nearly three miles in length. 

Quebec retains many of the characteristics of its early French founders, and impresses the 
visitor with the quaintness and venerable air of much that is to be seen, and is suggestive of a 
little bit of the Old World transplanted to the New. The age of the city shows itself in a 
marked degree, and the visitor voluntarily accords it a proper amount of respect as an honored 
relic of by gone days. It has played a most important part in the history of this country, 
and there is scarce a span's space in the city or its vicinage but what is memorable in history 
as the scene of some struggle or decisive engagement. The French language is the exclusive 
medium of intercourse among many of the inhabitants. The drives around Quebec are full 
of interest and afford delightful prospects Eight miles below the city are the celebrated 
Falls of Montmorenci. As is well known, these falls are only fifty feet wide, but descend in 
a perpendicular sheet more than two hundred and fifty feet. The place is much frequented. 

A very pleasant rounding off of the St. Lawrence tour is made by including a trip to the 
remarkable Saguenay River, its largest tributary. Leaving Quebec, a detour of two days 
affords the opportunity for viewing the grandest and most striking river scenery on this con- 
tinent. At Tadousac, 120 miles below Quebec, the Saguenay empties into the St. Lawrence, 
and from the moment the channel is entered the beholder is impressed with the grandeur of 
the prospect before him. On either side perpendicular cliffs of granite and syenite in solemn 
majesty rise abruptly from the water's edge to a height of nearly 2000 feet. The quiet flow 
of the river in its deep and rock-bound channel is in perfect accord with the wondrous charm 
of the situation. The depth of this river is something remarkable ; at its mouth a line of 330 
fathoms could not sound bottom; at St. John's Bay, 28 miles above Tadousac, the water is 
one mile and a half deep. Six miles beyond St. John's Bay is Eternity Bay. Two majestic 
promontories, like gigantic sentinels, guard its entrance; Cape Trinity, 1500 feet high, on the 
left; Cape Eternity, 1900 feet high, on the right. At this point the river is a mile and a 
quarter deep. The headwater of the Saguenay is the Lake St. John, 40 miles long and 
nearly as wide, and although eleven rivers flow into it, its only outlet is the Saguenay. The 
original name of the latter was Chicontini, an Indian word, signifying Deep Water. Sixty 
miles above Tadousac is Grand or Ha-ha Bay, nine miles long and six wide. It affords good 
anchorage for the largest vessels, the average depth being from 15 to 35 fathoms. The 
attractions of this place are many and very inviting. Its name is said to come from the joy 
it afforded the first navigators of the river, who found here their first landing-place, and 
expressed their delight by a hearty Ha ! ha ! The Grand Trunk Railway, and the Royal Mail 
and Richelieu Line of steamers comprise the favorite lines of travel to and from all points in 
Canada and the St. Lawrence River. 

Trenton Falls, Ne^^ York. 

In all the world there is, perhaps, no stream which in the same space presents so many and 
various shapes of running and falhng water, as does the West Canada Creek at Trenton Falls. 
This lovely spot, to which thousands now annually resort, embraces scenery Altogether unique 
in its character, as combining at once the beautiful, the romantic, and the magnificent — all 
that variety of rocky chasms, cataracts, cascades, rapids, etc., elsewhere separately exhibited 
in different regions. Trenton Falls is situated in the central part of New York State, on the 
line of the Utica and Black River Railroad, eighteen miles north of Utica. The Falls, con- 
sisting of five cataracts and a series of cascades of unexcelled picturesqueness and beauty, are 
a part of the West Canada Creek, the main branch of the Mohawk River, as the Missouri is 
of the Mississippi, having lost its i)roper name because not so early explored. The Indians 

10 



138 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 



gave to the Falls the beautiful and descriptive name of " Kang-a-hoo-ra "—Leaping Water— 
and such it literally is, for here the stream flows for two miles through a ravine or chasm from 
seventy to two hundred feet deep, descending three hundred and twelve feet in one continuous 
succession of cataracts, cascades, and rapids— rushing, roaring, dashing, whirling, leaping and 
plunging throughout the entire course. A tour of the ravine is made by paths cut in the sides 
of the rocks, and by staircases leading from the lower to the higher points, as at Watkins' 
Glen and Ausable Chasm. By the changes made in these paths during the past two years 
new views have been opened from the heights, several of which present scenes that neither 
pen nor pencil can catch. The descent into the ravine is made easy and safe by five pairs of 
stairs with railings, leading from the bank down one hundred feet to a broad pavement, level 
with the water's edge, a furious rapid being in front that has cut down the rock still deeper. 

This is at the lower end of the gorge. 
The first impression of the tourist 
upon reaching this subterranean world 
is astonishment at the change ; but, 
recovering instantly, his attention is 
forthwith directed to the magnificence, 
the grandeur, the beauty, and the 
sublimity of the scene. The paths 
extend for upward of two miles along 
the water's side, introducing the visi- 
tor at every step to indescribably 
beautiful and ever-changing views. 
The principal falls are the Lower 
Falls, thirty-three feet in perpendicu- 
lar height ; Sherman Falls, thirty-five 
feet, from a shelving rock into a dark 
pool below; High Falls, one hundred 
and nine feet; and Mill-dam Falls, 
fourteen feet in height. In a story 
called "Edith Linsey," written by 
the late N. P. Willis, occurs a descrip- 
tion of Trenton Falls, of which the 
following is an extract : " Most people 
talk of the sublimity of Trenton, but 
I have haunted it by the week to- 
gether for its mere loveliness. The 
river in the heart of that fearful 
chasm is the most varied and beauti- 
ful assemblage of the thousand forms 
of running water that I know of in 
the world. The soil and the deep-striking roots of the forest terminate far above you, look- 
ing like a black rim on the inclosing precipices ; the bed of the river and its sky-sustaining 
walls are of solid rock, and, with the tremendous descent of the stream — forming for miles 
one succession of falls and rapids — the channel is worn into curves and cavities which throw 
the clear waters into forms of inconceivable brilliancy and variety. It is a sort of half 
twilight below, with here and there a long beam of sunshine reaching down to kiss the lip of 
an eddy or form a rainbow over a fall, and the reverberating and changing echoes. 




Rocky Heart, Trenton Falls. 



LAKES AND RIVERS. 139 

' Like a ring of bells, whose sound the wind still alters,' 
maintain a constant and most soothing music, varying at every step with the varying phase of 
the current." In one of his letters the same writer says: " Trenton Falls is the place above 
all others where it is a luxury to stay— which one oftenest revisits— which one most commends 
to strangers to be sure to see." 




G SeasboPG 



" 'I'liou glorious sea I More pleasing far 

When all thy waters are at rest, 
And noonday sun or midnight star 

Is shining on thy vvaveless breast. 
Ytt is the very tempest dear, 

Whose mighty voice but tells of thee ; 
I'or wild or calm, or far or near, 

I love thee still, thou glorious sea ! ' 



i^S^'SS:- 




II tROM the pine woods to the Everglades the historic Atlantic washes the shores of 
our broad land, now "dashed high on a stern and rock-bound coast," and eddying 
around the northern islands ; now flooding through the Narrows to bathe the feet of 
the metropolis, and ebbing back by Coney Island and Sandy Hook ; anon sweeping 
with lono- fine swells into the Sounds of Albemarle and Pamlico, and storming by Cape Hat- 
teras, then capping against the coral reefs of the Florida Keys, and meeting the warm waters of 
the Gulf; while across the continent, three thousand miles away, the great Pacific's blue waters 
sparkle through the vista of the Golden Gate, and 
chant the vespers for the quaint and ancient white- 
walled Missions amidst the vineyards of Southern 
California. Thus, with a "deep and dark blue 
ocean" rolling on either side, the American is most 
naturally a lover of the sea, and a frequent pilgrim to 
its shores. P 
It is prob- 
ably true 
that a ma- 
jority of 
those who 
annually 
give them- 
selves a 
season of 
relaxation 
seek it a- 
long the ma- 
ny curves 
of glisten- 
ing sand, 
where the 
waves of 

ocean beat more gently. So general has this seaward tendency become that the " rapture on 
on the lonely shore" is often intruded upon. 

Along the barren sands cities have sprung up; the trackless wastes are paved by corpora- 
tions; the moonlight that sends a silver path across the sea pales on the land before the 
electric light that glitters in the gay pavilions and hotels. Where once the only music that 
trembled through the air were the deep chords from the booming billows, the sounds of merry 
songs and the notes of tinkling cymbals and stringed instruments now fill the air; and the 
. i.-o) 




THE SEASHORE. 14I 

fresh breeze, which once had far to wander to blow its good to humankind, now fans the fair 
brow of beauty, driving on the sea-road or promenading on the ocean-walk, while the forgot- 
ten untutored mermaids hang their heads for shame beneath the waves. No American resorts 
are so cosmopolitan. All countries, all tongues, all conditions are represented among those 
who flock thither for amusement, for health, for the love of excitement, for the love of the 
grand ocean. They ramble on the shore, they sit on the beach, they sail through the waters, 
they gather the shells, they sport in the surge. Though some may have to search for that 
solitude so dear on occasions, there is room for all, and one may always find some nook or 
corner where he may follow his own bent of worship. To the invalid and weary the salt 
breeze comes like a cool hand on the fevered brow, and bears the healing of the seas; to the 
strong worker what a blissful rest to cast himself upon the sands, forget the dusty town 
behind in the contemplation of these vast waters that bear the white-winged messengers of 
commerce and beat about a thousand lands. In the words of Oliver Wendell Holmes: 
"Who does not love to shuffle off time and its concerns at intervals, — to forget who is 
President and who is Governor, what race he belongs to, what language he speaks, which 
golden-headed nail of the firmament his particular planetary system is hung upon, and listen 
to the great liquid metronome as it beats its solemn measure, steadily swinging when the solo 
or duet of human life began, and to swing just as steadily after the human chorus has died out 
and man is a fossil on its shore." To Byron the sea was power, solemnity, eternity, — the 
" glass upon which the face of the Almighty is seen." To the poet Procter it was : 

''The sea! the sea! the open sea! 
The blue, the fresh, the ever free ! 
Without a mark, without a bound 
It runneth the earth's wide region round ; 
It plays with the clouds, it mocks the skies, 
Or like a cradled creature lies." 

But romance aside, the great desideratum of a vacation is to most of us recuperation in 
health and strength ; and the question must be determined in each case individually, whether 
the sea or mountain air is most beneficial. The distinctive feature of the seashore is the 
opportunity it affords for salt-water or surf bathing. The great majority of persons are more 
or less benefited by sea-baths, when taken under proper conditions, and with the observance of 
proper precautions. But it is generally admitted among bathers of experience that the effect 
of these baths may be either stimulating or depressing — that they may do great good or much 
harm, according as all the conditions may be understood and observed. The sea is a powerful 
chemical agent. Many of the salts held in solution in its waters possess strong medicinal 
properties, which act directly through the pores of the skin. In all cases where there is reason 
to question the expediency of a course of sea-baths, or to suspect a tendency to heart disease, 
medical advice should be taken and carefully followed. Few general rules can be laid down, 
but it may be set forth as one of them that a short time in the water is always best ; and that 
the bather should hasten briskly to the dressing-room after leaving the water, and indulge a 
vigorous rubbing with coarse towels. 

Atlantic City, N. J. 

This " City of Homes," located on the Atlantic coast, sixty miles southeast of Philadelphia, 
is one of the largest and most popular watering-places on the Atlantic seacoast. During the 
season tourists in great numbers from every quarter are drawn to it ; but being very convenient 
of access to Philadelphia, the greater proportion of its visitors and summer residents are from 
that city. Atlantic City is really situated on an island formed by the Atlantic Ocean on the 



1^2 OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 

east, and a navigable strait — The Tliorouglifare — on tlie west, Absecom Inlet on the north, and 
Old Inlet on the south. It contains a large number of private cottages of exceeding beauty, 
both in themselves and their surroundings. The peculiar dry atmosphere of this resort, its 
magnificent beach — one of the best and safest on the coast — its splendid bathing and comfort- 
able hotels and cottages, have made it one of the most popular watering-places on the coast. 
It is not only a city in name, but in fact, possessing all the conveniences enjoyed by cities of 
a larger giowth. The resident population is six thousand, and those who visit there in search 
of health or pleasure will find no lack of necessities and all of the luxuries enjoyed at home. 
There are fine markets, good stores in great variety, street cars, stage lines, unexcelled livery, 
gas, first-class medical attendance, and stores, etc., etc. There are pleasant drives for many 
miles up and down the beach, which -is smooth, sandy and gently sloping. For two miles 
along the ocean front of the city the beach is skirted by a broad plank walk, which is the 
favorite resort for promenading during bathing hour and evening. The surrounding country 
is entirely destitute of attractiveness to the vision, consisting as it does, for the most part, of 
wide-stretching salt marshes; but because of the fish that may be taken in its waters, and the 
game that may be bagged from among the reeds and rushes it is a sort of Paradise to the 
persistent sportsman. The run from Philadelphia to Atlantic City by the West Jersey Rail- 
road, controlled by the Pennsylvania, is made in ninety minutes, and passenger trains are run 
often enough every day to suit all desires and necessities — in fact so fast and frequent are they 
that Atlantic City lias come to be regarded as almost a suburb of the Quaker City. 

Cape May, H. J. 

Few seaside resorts in the country surpass Cape May in the points of attraction chiefly 
considered in estimating the merits of such a resort. Good, safe bathing, pleasant drives, 
and desirable society are the first considerations of a sojourn at the seashore, because there 
are few resources aside from these. A " Summer City by the Sea" is often in its appearance a 
rude shock to preconceived ideas. Every circumstance, however, attendant upon a first 
introduction to Cape May is calculated to satisfy all expectations. A swift two hours' ride 
over the West Jersey Railroad from Philadelphia precedes arrival at the handsome depot of 
the Company, upon the very sands of the ocean. The traveller glances at the curling crests 
of white foam, accompanied with long-drawn inhalations of the salt sea air, and is whirled 
through the little village to his chosen hotel. It is a peculiarly situated place, where the 
southern boundary of New Jersey becomes drawn out into a long pointed strip of land, and 
projects far down into the ocean. It would seem as if the forces which had been at work in 
ages past chiselling out bays and headlands had foreseen a coming need, and, working with 
intelligent purpose, had left this strip of land that, upon its very point, where the waves wel- 
come the noble Delaware to their embrace, might be situated a famous watering-place. 

Cape May, to quote a well-known writer, "possesses one of the few really fine ocean 
beaches of the world, a splendid expanse of smooth white sand, firm yet soft to the tread, 
stretching for miles up and down the coast, over whose slight incline the waves break with a 
regularity and gentle force which makes life-lines entirely unnecessary. The hotels and cot- 
tages are in close proximity to the beach, which circumstance, taken in connection with the 
fact that there are no unsightly stretches of barren land or wastes of salt marshes to offend 
the eye, forms a prominent factor in the exceptional popularity of the place. The situation 
of the Cape gives it peculiar and decided advantages as a sanitarium. It is surrounded on 
three sides by the Atlantic, whose purifying breezes fan it without stint, and afford almost 
entire immunity from that pest of sea-side resorts, the mosquito. It was this natural adapta- 
tion to the purposes of both health and pleasure that made Cape May a favorite resort long 



1 HE SEASHORE. 



143 



before the era of railroads. It was sought by thousands in that early time who loved the sea 
for its beauty alone, and it will continue to preserve its prestige unbroken so long as man con- 
tinues to be endowed with the capacity to enjoy. The patronage of the place has long been 
monopolized by a class which represents at home the highest grade of intelligence, social 
standing, and culture. Ten thousand annual summer visitors from Baltimore, Philadelphia, 
Washington, and Pitts- 
burgh, representing the 
b3st families of those 
cities, have left the im- 
press of their character 
upon the town, encour- 
aging that thrift and 
enterprise and good 
taste in its citizens 
which builds up beauti- 
ful avenues, preserves a 
cleanly, wholesome con- 
dition of its streets, and 
creates a strong, health- 
ful public opinion in 
the direction of moral- 
ity, culture, and refine- 
ment." 

A magnificent drive, 
fifty feet' wide, extends 
along the whole sea 
front, flanked on the 
ocean side by a board 
walk ten feet wide. 
These are constructed in 
thebest manner, thedrive 
being well gravelled, 
and connecting as it 
does with the principal 
streets of the town, 
forms a continuous cir- 
cuit of many miles, combining the unsurpassed ocean scene, and the most attractive views of 
the city. The board-walk sweeps along in graceful curves for a distance of near two miles, 
and as smooth as a ball-room floor, commanding an unobstructed prospect of the bathing- 
grounds on the one side, and the carriage-way on the other. The principal avenues of the 
city are covered with shells from the sea, thus rendering them free from dust, and delightful 
for promenaders and others visiting the handsome shops, hotels, and private residences 
extending along them. The favorite hotel at Cape May, the Stockton, is under the manage- 
ment this season of Col. J. F. Cake, well known as the proprietor of Willard's and the 
Metropolitan, of Washington, in years past, and in his hands this palace by the sea is likely to 
become more popular than ever. 




Cape May, from the Pier- Stoskton House. 



144 (^UJ^ AMERICAN RESORTS. 

Long Branch, N. J. 

Among the oldest as well as the most fashionable and popular resorts on the New Jersey 
coast is Long Branch. It has an unusually fine beach for bathing and promen9.ding, and 
possesses in perfection the best attractions sought on the seashore. A new feature in recent 
years is the great iron pier extending from the bluff out some 800 feet into the ocean. " The 
bluff" is a sandy elevation, rising abruptly from the beach to a height of twenty feet, 
forming a plateau upon which the hotels and residences are located, overlooking the boundless 
expanse of ocean. It extends, in an almost unbroken line, five miles. The iron pier, with its 
top on a level with this bluff, reaches far out beyond the breakers, and furnishes a long prom- 
enade, as well as a convenient fishing stand. There is a restaurant on it, also accommodations 
for an orchestra, while underneath are numerous bath-houses. 

The drives about Long Branch are a feature, and the famous "Beach Drive," extending a 
distance of twenty miles or more, commands a fine view of the sea for almost the entire dis- 
tance. From some of the hotels may be seen showy equipages in passing and repassing lines, 
pleasantly breaking the vision of the bright green of the lawn, and the deep blue of the ocean 
beyond. There are at Long Branch no salt marshes, sandy plains, nor mosquitoes. The soil 
from the bluff back is of the most fertile character, and the art of man working upon this and 
aided by unlimited capital, has done so much to beautify the place and add to the great 
natural attraction of the sea, that it can never be in any danger of losing its high rank and 
prestige. Owing to the fame of Long Branch as a resort of the fashionable classes, there exists 
in the minds of a majority of those who have never visited it an impression that it is unsuited 
to people of moderate means and quiet tastes. This is, however, a great misconception. 
The charges at the hotels range from three dollars to four dollars per day, and from twelve 
dollars per week upwards. The carriage fares are also very moderate, and need exclude none 
who do not own their own teams — and these constitute three-fourths — from the pleasures of 
the drive. There is less attempt at vain display, and less excitement than at many less noted 
and cheaper resorts. Fashion decrees no particular course of conduct, or style of dress, and 
there is enough democratic leaven in the lump to make it proper for every one to do as he 
pleases, provided the ordinary proprieties of life are observed. There are several ways of 
reaching Long Branch from New York, viz. : The Pennsylvania route, from Desbrosses and 
Cortlandt streets, via Newark, Rahway, and Amboy ; or by steamer, running four times 
daily in summer from Pier 14 to Sandy Hook, thence by rail ; or the all water-route by steamer 
from foot of Twenty-second street ; and the all-rail route, via Long Branch Division of the 
New Jersey Central Railroad. 

Ocean Grove and Asbury Park, H. J. 

A LITTLE over ten years ago several ministers and layme'n of the Methodist Church, having 
in view the establishment of a camp-meeting ground, purchased the tract of land upon which 
the beautiful little city of Ocean Grove is built, at a cost of six hundred dollars. The splendid 
beach, fine location, and beautiful surroundings were expected to make it popular as a camp- 
ground, but little did its projectors at the outset dream that in less than a decade it would 
become a city of elegant, costly and substantial cottages, and one of the famous and prominent 
seaside resorts of the Atlantic coast. The advantages which the place offered for a summer 
home by the ocean were soon discovered, however, and the plans of the founders were 
enlarged, and the design of establishing here a summer retreat for Christian families was 
conceived. The plot of ground had been dedicated to religious purposes, and chartered 
under the name of the "Ocean Grove Camp Ground," and its improvement with a view to 



THE SEASHORE. I^r 

establishing a city was now systematically begun. The association is authorized to make its 
own laws, and they have framed these so as to secure, for all time, the purposes had in view 
when the work was commenced. No intoxicating drinks are permitted on the ground ; 
boating, bathing, and driving are strictly prohibited on Sunday ; and all behavior unbecom- 
ing the repose of such a place is at once suppressed. These regulations, and the natural 
advantages of the location, make it a pleasant and quiet place, where families can remain free 
from intrusion and annoyance, and where the beneficial effects of sea-air and sea-bathing 
can be enjoyed without the expense and tax upon the system exacted by resorts at which 
fashion and folly too often rule. In August of every summer camp-meeting is held on the 
grounds reserved for the purpose, continuing two weeks. Ample provision is made for the 
immense number of people who visit the Grove during the camp-meeting season under tents, 
which may be rented at reasonable rates. Asbury Park adjoins Ocean Grove, being separated 
therefrom only by Wesley Lake, a narrow but beautiful sheet of water. Asbury Park is an 
offshoot, so to speak, of Ocean Grove, but it is less strict in its police regulations than the 
latter, and on that account is preferred as a residence by some persons. Like its parent 
city, it has a fine beach and splendid bathing facilities. Its streets are regularly laid out and 
adorned with beautiful shade trees. Both Ocean Grove and Asbury Park are provided with 
excellent hotels and numerous and good boarding-houses. These resorts are located about six 
miles south of Long Branch, on the New Jersey coast, and may be reached by the Pennsyl- 
vania and New Jersey Central railroads. 

Newport, R. I. 

Newport is called the "Queen of American watering-places. ' ' For salubrity of climate and 
beauty of surrounding scenery it is claimed to possess advantages over all other smiilar resorts. 
Whether these claims be well sustained or not, to Newport are gathered every summer the first 
elements of American society in greater numbers, perhaps, than they are found elsewhere. It 
is also the favorite summer resort of foreign residents in America; and several of the ambas- 
sadors from Europe have cottages there. These give it a social aspect of the highest charm. 
The city is adorned with villas of the most costly and ornate character — surrounded by every 
feature of wealth and rural luxury — the country seats of gentlemen of fortune and culture, of 
New York, Boston, and other cities. At no other American resort are balls, receptions, and 
dinner and garden parties given on such a lavish and tasteful scale, and at no other place on 
our shores can such a perfect whirl of superb equipages be seen as may be beheld every evening 
on the grand drive on Bellevue avenue, rivalling in number and elegance those of Hyde Park 
and the Bois de Boulogne. Its site is matchless, its climate delicious, its bay glorious. The 
grandest boats that steam over the seas of the world land tourists at Newport. 

The most beautiful and swiftest flying yachts that skim upon the waters of the globe spread 
their white sails about the shores at Newport during " the season." In and around the city-are 
many interesting and beautiful localities. Buildings erected long before the Revolutionary 
War, and occupied during the period of the struggle by Rochambeau and other heroes of 
distinction, are still standing. Among the scores of other natural and artificial curiosities 
which contribute to the charm of the place, may be enumerated the "Old Stone Mill," 
supposed to have been built by the Northmen several hundred years before Columbus discovered 
America ; Fort St. Louis, a quaint old ruin at the entrance to the harbor; Fort Adams, one of 
the largest fortifications in America, situated on a point a mile and a half southwest of the 
city ; Purgatory Rocks, Hanging Rocks, " The Dumplings," and the Glen, wonderfully strange 
natural formations in the cliffs along the shore, and in the rocks in the harbor ; Touro Park, 
given to the town by Judah Touro, a Hebrew, who was born here, and the Jewish Cemetery 



146 



OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 






and Synagogue, preserved through bequests left by him. The visitor can occupy days in 
studying these and other attractions of the place, and in the pursuit will find information as 
well as pleasure. The beaches at Newport are exceedingly beautiful, and the bathing is un- 
surpassed by any seaside resort in America. 

Newport is one of the capitals of Rhode Island, and is situated on a declivity of the south- 
west shore of the island from which the State is named, facing the harbor on Narragansett 
Bay. Its older portion, lying near the wharves, has many narrow streets, bordered with the 
residences of the permanent inhabitants, many of which are mansions of "ye olden time." 
New Newport almost surrounds the old town, and stretches away to the south with a great 
number of villas and cottages, of which we have before spoken. This resort may be reached 
from New York by the Sound line of stearners, or by the Short Line Railroad, and from 
Boston, the Old Colony or Boston and Providence Railroads. 

Narragansett Pier, R. I. 

The fame of Narragansett as a summer resort has been wholly achieved during the last 
twenty years, the first sojourn of boarders in the locality having occurred, according to present 
traditions, iti 1856. Two or three years later visitors began to multiply, until the place 
developed into one of considerable popularity. It has now an array of hotels almost 
too numerous to mention, with various capacities from fifty to three hundred guests, and rates 
from eight dollars per week to three dollars per day. The convenient location of Narragansett 
Pier at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, and convenient to so many large cities, together with 
other natural advantages, furnish good reason for its large patronage, and render its popularity 
reasonably well assured for future years. It has a fine beach both for driving and bathing, 
which, with the fine fishing and sailing make its advantages marked. The surf is light, and 
the water deepens very gradually, which, with the absence of strong currents renders it more 
than ordinarily safe. One great attraction is the delightful boating on the bay. The largest 
hotel is situated on Narragansett Heights, three miles from the Pier, from which there is a 
grand view of the ocean and adjoining country. In this vicinity also is Silver Lake, a 
picturesque and enchanting spot. Narragansett Pier is most directly and pleasantly reached 
by the elegant boats of the Stonington Line from New York. 

Martha's Vineyard, Mass. 

For over fifty years this island has been a prominent camp-meeting ground for Methodists 
and Baptists, who have congregated here during the summer for worship in '' God's first tem- 
ples." Of late years it has become very popular as a place for summer residence. The island, 
which is about twenty-two miles in length, and from six to ten miles in width, was discovered 
in 1602 by Captain Goswold, who gave it the name it still bears, Martha, it is said, was a 
"lost Lenore " of Captain Goswold. Oak Bluffs, the principal resort on the Island, has been 
aptly called the Cottage City of America. It contains over one thousand cottages, most of 
which are elegant and many of them very costly. Life at Oak Bluffs is peculiarly free from 
the restraint and care which characterize most fashionable seaside resorts. While the place is 
still largely frequented by Methodists, sojourners of this denomination by no means monopo- 
lize the city. A camp-meeting, usually lasting for two weeks, is still held every summer in the 
month of August, Some of the most distinguished and eloquent Methodist preachers may be 
heard during "camp." The fine drives in the vicinity of Oak Bluffs afford many charming ocean 
views. Boating, sailing, seabathing, blue-fishing, and other seaside pastimes, charm and delight 
the visitor throughout the season, which reaches its height during " camp-meeting week," when 
from 25,000 to 40,000 people are on the ground. Oak Bluffs is well provided with excellent 



THE SEASHORE. 



147 



hotels, but it has few boarding-houses. Rooms can be readily rented at private houses and 
meals obtained at the restaurants and hotels. The island of Martha's Vineyard constitutes a 
county of Massachusetts and is separated from the mainland by Vineyard Sound. There are 
other resorts besides Oak Bluffs on the island — resorts of considerable pretensions and of high 
grade. Two miles west of Oak Bluffs, on the excellent harbor known as Holmes' Hole, is the 
town of Vineyard Haven. Many summer boarders sojourn here. Edgartown and Katama, 
seven miles distant from the Bluffs, and connected with it by a narrow gauge steam railway, 
affords fine facilities for bathing and boating. Boats run daily from New Bedford and other 
points across Vineyard Sound to the various landings on the island. 

Nantucket, Mass. 

A QUARTER of a century ago the quaint old town of Nantucket, situated on the northern 
shore of the island bearing the same name, was a busy and prosperous town, but with the 
decline of the whale fishery its industry was ruined. Its chief business now is to entertain 
the army of summer tourists vv^ho yearly seek recreation and rest on the island. Nantucket is 
famous for its blue-fishing, which is indulged in not only by trolling, but by beach fishing, 
known as heave and haul, that is, casting a line from the shore among the breakers and 
hauling it in quickly. Riding and sailing are also among the favorite exercises of this resort. 
Surf-bathing is somewhat unsafe, and hence but 'little indulged in. The sea air is fresh and 
invigorating at all times — the sojourner here being practically at sea. The thermometer rarely 
rises above eighty degrees, and the nights are always deliciously cool. With the healthfulness 
of its climate, its quiet repose, and general home-like character, it offers strong attractions 
to the invalid, while it invites all to its recreations and rest from the activities of life. 
Tourists are invariably charmed and delighted with Nantucket as a resort. On the eastern 
side of the island, situated on a bluff, is the little village of Siasconset. It is quite a favorite 
resort, and is annually visited by many tourists. Nantucket is about three hours by steamer 
from New Bedford. 

Bass Rocks. 

This is a new summer resort on Cape Ann, thirty miles from Boston by the Eastern Rail- 
road. It is situated on the high rocky shore of Gloucester, Mass., between Eastern Point 
and Rockport, and commands magnificent views of land and ocean. Good Harbor Beach, 
three-quarters of a mile in length, is the finest on the "North Shore" for surf bathing, and is 
safe at any time of tide. There is also a shallow inlet, with clean sand bottom, for those who 
prefer still-water bathing. The drives around the Cape, and within a circuit of twenty miles 
inland, are all very beautiful. The amusements are dancing, billiards, bowling, sailing, and 
deep-sea fishing. Bass Rocks is one and a half miles from the railroad station, and is connected 
by telephone with all telegraphic lines. 

From Cape Ann to Cape Cod. 

That portion of the Massachusetts coast stretching northeast from Boston to Cape Ann, 
and southeast to Cape Cod, with its thousand strange and beautiful indentations and jagged 
outlines, is famous among travellers and tourists of our land. Boston, the metropolis of New 
England, and centre of this section, is noted for its historical places of interest, and the beauty 
of its suburbs. The Common, that great promenade and favorite play-ground for children, 
almost completely shaded by noble old elms, with its magnificent soldiers' monument, and 
beautiful Brewer Fountain ; that pink of petite parks, the Public Garden, with its statues and 
monuments, lakelets and fountains, shady nooks and flower-bordered paths; the many historic 
old buildings, such as Old South Church, desecrated by the British army during the War of 



148 



OiJK AMERICAN RESORTS 



the Revolution, Burgoyne having turned it into a cavalry school for his troopers, Faneuil 
Hall, termed the " Cradle of Liberty," where American patriots first resolved to resist the 
exactions of the British Crown; the Old State House; Bunker Hill Monument; the Pub- 
lic Library; the art galleries, and a thousand other places of quite equal interest, which 
might be named, combine to make Boston a favorite city to tourists. Passing along the coast 
of the harbor toward the northeast the first seaside resort reached is Chelsea or Revere Beach, 
four miles from the "Hub," and accessible by steam and horse cars. The only attraction 
here is the fine beach, and the excellent suppers served at its hotels and restaurants. Lynn, 
the famous "shoe town," eleven miles farther to the east, is a pretty city with beautiful 
surroundings. Long Beach, stretching from Lynn Bostonward to Nahant, affords one of the 
finest beach drives in this country. Nahant is a picturesque and attractive resort, combining, 
perhaps, more varieties of ocean scenery and general pleasure advantages than any other sea- 
side town on the New England coast. Swampscott, twelve miles from Boston, is next reached. 
This is one of Boston's most fashionable watering-places. It has four beautiful hard sandy 
beaches, which afford perfect seaside walks and drives. The surf-bathing here is admirable 
Four miles farther on is the historic old town of Salem, a very agreeable place of summer 
residence. Farther on, twenty miles from Boston, is Marblehead, "a b;:ckbone of granite, a 
vertebra of syenite and porphyry, thrust out into Massachusetts Bay in the direction of Cape 
Ann, and hedged about with rocky islets." Marblehead is one of the most famous of 
American cities. Its situation is such as to command a beautiful view in all directions. 
Perfect surf and still-water bathing, excellent fishing, and the general healthfulness of the 
climate combine to make it a popular resort. Manchester, five miles from Marblehead, is the 
next point reached. This is one of the loveliest watering-places on the Massachusetts shore, 
as it is one of the most famous among tourists and travellers of our country. Gloucester, a 
pleasantly situated and compactly built city, comes next in the line. It is twenty-eight miles 
from Boston, and while resorted to by many during the summer months, offers fewer attractions 
to tourists than most of the other resorts along the coast. Fishing is the all-absorbing industry 
of the place. Rockport, on Cape Ann, thirty-one miles from the "modern Athens," has in 
recent years gained considerable popularity as a summer resort. Many beautiful cottages, the 
summer homes of Boston merchant princes, are erected here. Granite quarrying is the 
aristocratic and money-making occupation of the people of Rockport. Pigeon Cove is situated 
at the extreme point of Cape Ann, and is by reason of the great beauty and the sublimity of 
its scenery, the healthfulness of its climate, its medicinal springs of "true chalybeate mineral 
water, having decided tonic properties," its splendid surf and still-water bathing, a much- 
frequented and deservedly popular ocean-side resort. Turning back to highly-cultured Boston, 
and starting down the harbor, bound for Cape Cod, many natural beauties, calculated to delight 
and interest the tourist, are encountered. It is not easy to have a more delightful sail than 
down Boston harbor, when its islands and the banks of its shores are clothed in their summer 
garb. Beautiful villas fringe the southern coast of the bay from Boston to beyond Cohasset. 
Quincy, eight miles from the Hub, and the birthplace of John Adams, second President of the 
United States, has become one of the most select seaside resorts in the neighborhood of the 
New England metropolis. Weymouth, five miles farther down, is noted for fine summer 
residences, and the excellent facilities it offers for bathing, fishing and sailing. Hingham, 
fifteen miles from Boston, is celebrated for the beauty of its scenery, and the superiority of 
all of its seaside features. Melville Garden, Downer Landing, an alluring retreat, hard by, is 
daily sought by crowds from the city. It is, perhaps, the most popular place in the harbor for 
" spending the day." Its fine grove, excellent restaurant, commodious dancing pavilion, and 
superior clam-bakes are widely known among Eastern Massachusetts folk. Nantasket, but a 



ThE SEASHORE. 



[49 



mile farther from Boston, is famous for its unrivalled four-mile beach, its elegant bathing, and 
good hotels. Cohasset, six miles farther on, affords a good opportunity for seeing all that is 
grand and sublime in old ocean. The surf-bathing here in calm weather is superior, though 
during a gale the sea becomes very rough, and the in-rolling waves rise extremely high. Scituate, 
six miles from Cohasset, is very much like it in character. Plymouth, the American Mecca, 
would commend itself to tourists from all parts of the world, because of its historic associations, 
even though it were not, as it really is, one of the most delightful of watering-places on the 
American coast. Sandwich, Cotuit Port, Yarmouth, Hyannis, and Wellfleet, "on the cape," 
are all situated in the midst of charming surroundings, and are favorite resorts. Provincetown, 
on the extreme point of Cape Cod, is becoming quite popular as a summer resort, though by 
reason of the sterility of the soil in the neighborhood, which has made it undesirable as a 
place of permanent residence, and a good place to emigrate from rather than go to, it has not 
received as high a rank among watering-places as it merits. All of the resorts mentioned 
under this head may be reached by boat or rail from Boston, and at all good hotel 
accommodations will be found. 

Bar Harbor, Mt. Desert Island, Me. 

Mt. Desert Island, in Frenchman's Bay, just off the coast of Maine, about one hundred 
and ten miles east of Portland and forty miles southeast of Bangor, has, by reason of the 
coolness of its climate and the magnificence of its scenery, become one of the most popular 




''"Baoi'.fi,,^ 



Bar Harbor and Mt. Desert. 



summer resorts for tourists along the New England coast. The island is about one hundred 
square miles in extent and has a population of four thousand. The greater part of its surface 
is covered with thirteen granite mountains, whose highest peak, Green Mountain, attains an 



jeQ OUR AMERICAN RESORTS. 

altitude of some fifteen hundred feet. High up among the mountains are many beautiful 
lakes, the largest of which is several miles in length. These lakes, and the streams that flow 
into them, abound in trout. The southeast coast of the island is lined with stupendous cliffs 
several hundred feet in height. The best description that can be given of the island is the 
language of Mrs. Browning: 

" An island full of hills and dells, 
All rumpled and uneven, 
With green recesses, sudden swells, 

And odorous valleys, driven 
So deep and straight, that always there 
The wind is cradled to soft air." 

Bar Harbor, on the eastern shore of the island, is the favorite stopping-place for tourists. 
The village here is locally known as East Eden, and contains a number of first-class summer 
hotels, chief among which is the Grand Central. From Bar Harbor the visitor is afforded 
the best opportunity to explore the cliffs on the shore and make excursions to points of interest 
in the interior of the island. Among the objects of interest in the vicinity of this resort are 
Green Mountain, which may be easily ascended, the scenery from the summit of which is 
extremely grand and beautiful ; Schooner Head, a mass of white jutting cliffs, which from the 
sea bear a close resemblance to a ship under sail ; The Ovens, a number of holes resembling 
in form a "Dutch oven," worn in the rocks by the action of the tides, approachable only 
when the tide is out. Great Head, the highest headland between Cape Cod and New Bruns- 
wick; Thunder Cave and Spouting Horn, two mysterious caverns in the rocky wall surround- 
ing the island, and many other strange and charming places. Boating and fishing on the 
bay and angling in the lakes is the favorite pastime with tourists domiciled here. The most 
popular way of reaching Bar Harbor is by steamer from Portland. 

Isles of Shoals, N. H. 

About nine miles off the coast of New Hampshire, southeast from Portsmouth, is a group of 
small isles known as the Isles of Shoals, which are popular, particularly among New Englanders, 
as a summer resort. The history of the Isles dates back to July 15th, 1605, when they were 
seen by the French navigators, De Monts and Champlain. They were very early the resort of 
fishermen, and were the home of a large and busy community of traders and fishermen by the 
middle of the seventeenth century. The people were ordered off the islands at the outbreak 
of the Revolution, and a few only returned at the close of the war, from which time the popu- 
lation has gradually diminished, until now the islands are simply the temporary abode of the 
" valetudinarian and the summer idler." Appledore, the principal island of this barren group, 
rises to a height of about seventy-five feet above the level of the sea. Star Island may, per- 
haps, be reckoned as second in importance On both of these islands large and commodious 
summer hotels are located. Other dark and gloomy ledges, which rear their heads above the 
roaring breakers, and upon which many a stanch ship has been dashed to pieces, are known as 
Smutty Nose, Londoner's, Duck, and White Islands. Fishing and boating, which are unsur- 
passed here, contribute to make the time pass agreeably with tourists. The atmosphere is 
quite bracing at all times, and for that reason it is not advisable for persons afflicted with pul- 
monary ailings, and others with delicate constitutions, to go directly to the Isles from warm 
and quiet inland places. Mrs. Celia Thaxter, the authoress, a native of Appledore, has made 
famous the Isles of Shoals by many glowing descriptions of their charms in her writings. The 
hotels and boarding-houses are quite liberally patronized throughout the entire season. Steamers 
ply between the Isles and Portsmouth, ten miles distant. 



I 



THE GRAND TRUNK RAILWAY, 



IN CONNECTION WITH THK 



Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company, 



— IS THE 



GREAT PLEASURE ROUTE, 

And they now offer a choice Selection of Popular Excursion Routes, 
via JViagara Falls, Toronto, River St. Lawrence (with 
its Thousand Islands and Rapids), Montreal, 
Quebec, River Saguenay, Lakes Cham- 
plain and George, Saratoga, ^c. 



The Richelieu and Ontario Navigation Company s Steamers comprise the original Royal 
Mail a7td Richelieu Lines, with the addition of several new steamers, thus forming two 
first-class lines of steamers, which, for speed, safety, and comfort, cannot be surpassed. 
They are the only lines now offering tourists an opportunity to view the magnificent scenery 
of the Thousand Islatuls and Rapids of the St. Latvrence, also the far-famed River Sague- 
nay. This route possesses peculiar advantages over any other, as by it parties have their 
choice of either side of Lake Ontario, and River St. Lawrence between Niagara Falls and 
Quebec ; and the tickets are also valid by rail or steamer between Niagara Falls and 
Quebec. No extra charge for meals between Toronto and Montreal. The improved con- 
dition of the Grand Trunk Raihvay, including its equipment of neiv passenger cars, new 
locomotives, steel track, etc., noiv brings it prominently before tlie public as a first-class line, 
and preferable to the majority of lines between the East and West. The Grand Trunk 
Railway [via G or ham and the Glen House) is the only route by which parties can ascend 
the far-famed Mt. Washington by carriage road. 

Tickets and information may be obtained at the principal ticket offices. 

NE\V YORK OFFICE, - - - 285 Broadway. 
BOSTON OFFICE, 280 Washington St. (formerly 134). 

J. STEPHEWSON, ALEX. MILLOY, 

Gen I Pass. Agt. G. T. Railway, Montreal. Traffic Manager Richelieu & Ontario Nav. Co. 

228 St. Paul St., Montreal. 



CHESAPEAKE & OHIO RAILWAY. 

THE NEW TRUNK LINE BETWEEN 

WASHINGTON, LOUISVILLE AND OINOINNATI, 

AND BETWEEN OLD POINT COMFORT, NORFOLK, NEWPORT NEWS, RICHMOND, AND 
LOUISVILLE AND CINCINNATI. 






I 

o 




CD 

—I 

o 



2 
o 



o 
o 



o 



The merit of this route justly entitles it to bear the appellation of " America's Tourist Line." There is 
no compL^titor, with the same variety of scenes, to win from it its laurels. At the extreme eastern terminus on 
Chesnpeike Bay and looking out upon the broad Atlantic is that grand pleasure resort and sea-shore sanita- 
rium, Hygeia Hotel, at Old Point Comfort. Hotel Warwick, Newport News, at the head of Hampton Roads, 
is the most elegantly furnished hotel south or west of New York. Entering the Blue Kidge and Alleghany 
Mountains the Mineral Springs are reached. White Suljjhur, Rockbridge Alum, Warm, Hot, Healing, 
Sweet, Sweet Chalybeate, Red Sulplitir, and numerous other resorts, embracing temples where fashion reigns — 
Fountains of Health presitled over by Esculapius — and the pastoral homes so well suited to rest and quiet. 
The scenery of the entire route is grand and ever-changing from pleasant valleys to gigantic cliffs and narrow 
canons. 

For full information and description of the Resorts, Routes, Rates, Connections and Sleeping Car reser- 
vations, apply to any of the following named agents : 

W. G. LOD WICK. Ticket Agent. ■ 171 Walnut Street, Cincmcti. Ohio. 

JAMES C. ERUIST, Goner a f Western Agent. ■ 340 W. Main St., Louisville, Kentucky. 

GE0R3E W. BARNEY, Ticket Agent, Lexington. Kentucky. 

W. TALBOTT WALKE, Ticket Agent, Norfolk. Virginia. 

TICKET AGENT, Chesapeake & Ohio Railway, Old Point Comfort, Virginia. 

H. W. CARR, General Eastern Agent. 229 Broadway, New York. 

J. C. DAME. General South Eastern Agent, • • 513 Pennsylvania Av. . Washington. D. C. 

C. W. SMITH, H. 

General Manager. 

(752) 



W. FULLER, 

General Pttssentfer Af/m'. 



RICHMOND & DANVILLE R.R.. 

VIRGINIA MIDLAND RY. 

THE SHORTEST AND QUICKEST ROUTE 10 ALL 

Virginia springs, anb ^nmrner fveBorts 

IN THE 

Mountains of North Garolina and Nortl^ Georgia. 

THREE DAILY TRAINS BETWEEN 

New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, and White 

Sulpher, Hot, Healing, Warm, Fauquier W.S., 

and other Virginia Springs. 

TWO DAILY TRAINS BET\A/EEN 

EASTERN CITIES AP NEW ORLEANS, MONTGOMERY, ATLANTA 

And all Summer Resorts in North Carolina and Georgia. 

INCLrDINfi 

Asheville, Warm Springs, All-Healing Springs, Flat Rock, Hendersonville, 

Haywood White Sulpher, Highlands, and "The Land of the Sky " 

in N. C, and Mt. Airy, Toccoa Palls, and Tallulah Falls in Ga. 



Be sure and consult the Schedule and Rate Sheets of these Roads before 
determining upon your location for the summer. 

FOR INFORMATION, ADDRESS, 

W. A. PEARCE, H. P. CLARK, 

228 Washington St., Boston, 229 Broadway, New York, 

F. B. PRICE, JAMES HOLLINGSHEAD, 

No. 6 N. Fourth St., Philada., 9 German Street, Baltimore, 

H. MACDANIEL, JOHN F. McCOY, 

601 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, Bait, and Potomac Depot, Wash. 

M. SLAUGHTER, 

Gefieral Passenger Agent. 
(153) 



WHO IS UNACQUAINTED WITH THE CEOCRAPHY OF THIS COUNTRY, WILL 
SEE BY EXAMINING THIS MAP, THAT THE 




Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific R'y, 

Being the Creat Central Line, affords to travelers, by reason of its unrivaled geo- 
graphical position, the shortest and best route between the East, Northeast and 
Southeast, and the West, Northwest and Southwest. 

It Is literally and strictly true, that its connections are alt of the principal lines 
of road between the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

By its main line and branches it reaches Chicago, Joliet, Peoria, Ottawa, 
La Salle, Ceneseo, Mollne and Rock Island, in Illinois ; Davenport, Muscatine, 
Washington, Keokuk, Knoxville, Oskaloosa, Fairfield, Des Moines, West Liberty, 
Iowa City, Atlantic, Avoca, Audubon, Harlan, Guthrie Center and Council Bluffs, 
In Iowa ; Gallatin, Trenton, Cameron and Kansas City, in Missouri, and Leaven- 
worth and Atchison in Kansas, and the hundreds of cities, villages and towns 
Intermediate. The 

"GREAT ROCK ISLAND ROUTE," 

As it is familiarly called, offers to travelers all the advantages and comforts 
Incident to a smooth track, safe bridges, Union Depots at all connecting points. 
Fast Express Trains, composed of COMMODIOUS, WELL VENTILATED, WELL 
HEATED, FINELY UPHOLSTERED and ELEGANT DAY COACHES ; a line of the 
MOST MAGNIFICENT HORTON RECLINING CHAIR CARS ever built ; PULLMAN'S 
latest designed and handsomest PALACE SLEEPING CARS, and DINING CARS 
that are acknowledged by press and people to be the FINEST RUN UPON ANY 
ROAD IN THE COUNTRY, and in which superior meals are served to travelers at 
the low rate of SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS EACH. 

THREE TRAINS each way between CHICAGO and the MISSOURI RIVER. 

TWO TRAINS each way between CHICAGO and MINNEAPOLIS and ST. PAUL, 
via the famous 

ALBERT LEA ROUTE. 

A New and Direct Line, via Seneca and Kankakee, has recently been opened, 
between Newport News, Richmond, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and La Fayette, 
and Council Bluffs, St. Paul, Minneapolis and intermediate points. 

All Through Passengers carried on Fast Express Trains. 

For more detailed information, see Maps and Folders, which may be obtained, as 
well as Tickets, at all principal Ticket Offices in the United States and Canada, or of 



R. R. CABLE, 

Vice-Pres't & Cen'l Manager, 



E. ST. JOHN, 

Cen'l T'k't & Pass'r Ag't, 



CHICAGO. 



(154) 



} 



The FAVORITE ROUTE for FASHIONABLE PLEASURE TRAVEL, 

VIA 

THE WONDERFUL TRENTON FALLS, 

Utiea and Black RiveF Railroac 

ONLY ALL RAIL ROUTE to the THOUSAND ISLANDS, 

THE SHORT T,INE TO 

Northern New York, River St. Lawrence & Canada 
TOURIST EXCURSION TICKETS 

TO 

Clayton, Alexandria Bay, and all Resorts among the Thou- 
sand Islands, Montreal, Quebec, White Mountains, 



MOUNTAIN, LAKE, RIVER, AND SEASHORE RESORTS IN CANADA 

AND THE PROVINCES, NEW YORK STATE, AND NEW 

ENGLAND, BY OVER 300 DIFFERENT ROUTES. 

ON SALE AT ALL PRINCIPAL TICKET OFFICES. 

If you are unable to get through tickets via route you want, wait until you arrive 
at Utica, and purchase of H. I. Fay, agent, next the depot. 

Wagner Sleeping Cars on night trains, and Parlor Cars on day trains. During 
summer season, fast trains, without stops, for Thousand Islands. 

This route, in connection with the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, 
and St. Lawrence Steainboat Company (known as the Palace Day Line), forms the 
New American Line for Montreal, passing all Thousand Islands and Rapids by 
daylight. 

Send two stamps for copy of the Illustrated book, " Routes and Rates for Summer 
Tours." Send for a copy before deciding upon your summer trip. 

J. F. MAYNARD, THEO. BUTTERFIELD, 

General Superintendent. General Passenger Agent, X^tica, N. Y. 

(155) 



PASSENGERS TRAVELLING BETWEEN 




WILL FIND 



The "Bound Brook Route" 

SHORTEST AI^D QUICKEST. 
20 Trains Daily! 6 Trains on Sundays! 

THROHGH TICKETS ai BAG&AGE CHECKS lo M from all PRINCIPAL POINTS. 

PARLOR CARS ON EXPRESS TRAINS, 

SLEEPING CARS ON NIGHT TRAINS. 
r OfJi and Green Streets^ 

3 Depots in Philadelphia, ^ff^ ^^^^ Columbia Avenue, 

{ ."id and Berks Streets. 

NEW YORK STATION, FOOT OF LIBERTY STREET. 



H. P. BALDWIN. 

General Passenger Ayent, Neiv York. 

(156) 



C. (t. HANCOCK, 

GenH Pass, and Trans. Agent, Phila, 



THE 



Virginia, Tennessee, & Georgia Air-Line 

PASSENGER ROUTES. 



— COMPRISING 



THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY R. R., 

THE NORFOLK & WESTERN R. R., 
THE EAST TENNESSEE, VIRGINIA, and EEOREIA R, R. 

— AND FORMING — 

The Shenandoah Route, The Kennesaw Route, 

The Great Southern Mail Route, The Chickasaw Route, 
The Norfolk Route, and The Florida Short Line. 

Each of which are Popuhir Routes of Through Passenger Travel, of 

UNIFORM EXCELLENCE, SUPERIOR EQUIPMENT, & COMMON MANAGEMENT, 



BETWEEN THE 



NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, and WEST. 

Conveying passengei's from the North and East, via Harrisburg. Pa., and Hagerstown, Md. From 
Washington, D. C, via Shenandoah Junction, or Lynchburg, Va. From Norfolk and Petersburg, via 
Lynchburg, and Roanoke. From Memphis and Southwest, via Chattanooga, Tenn. From Florida, South- 
east Georgia, New Orleans, La., Mobile, and Montgomery, Ala., via Atlanta, Ga., and from Yicksburg, Miss., 
Meridian, Miss., and Selma, Ala., via Rome, Ga., Dalton, Ga., and Cleveland, Tenn. 

— .\XD BEING THE MOST DIRECT ROUTES TO — 

THE WONDERFUL CAVERNS OF LURAY, 
NATURAL BRIDGE, YA., 

OLD POINT COMFORT, YA., 

VYARM SPRINGS, and 

ASHEYILLE, N. C, 

And all the romantic and interesting localities and watering-places in WESTERN NORTH CARO- 
LINA, C^EORGIA, TENNESSEE, VIRGINIA, and WEST VIRGINIA. 

WITH PERFECT THEOUaH PULLMAN SLEEPINa CAR SERVICE. 



For full information consult Time Schedule and printed matter of the railroads above enumerated, or 
apply at their offices or those of connecting lines throughout tiie United States. 



NEW ORLEANS, LA., 9 St. Charles Street. 

J. C. Andrews, Southwest Passenger Agent. 
DALLAS, TEXAS, 

P. R. Rogers, Western Passenger .Vgent. 
LITTLE ROCK, ARK., 

J. M. BulIjOCK, Contracting Agent. 
JACKSONVILLE, FLA., 

S. H. Hardwick, Travelling Passenger Agt. 
MACON, GEORGIA, Burr Brown. 
CHATTANOOGA, TENN., 

M. M. Welch, Western Agent. 



ATLANTA GA., James Mai.loy, Passenger Agt. 

ROANOKE, LYNCHBURG, 

Allen Hull, Passenger Agent. 
BALTIMORE, HAGERSTOWN, HARRIS 

BURG, W. R. Esmer, Passenger .\gent. 
NEW YORK, PHILADELPHIA, 

H. V. Tompkins, Eastern Passenger .\gent. 
NEW YORK CITY, 'MS Broadway, 

G. M. Huntington, N. Y. Passenger Agent. 
BOSTON, 290 Washington Street, 

C. P. G.\ither, Agent. 



GENERAL OFFICES, LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA. 

HENRY FINK, General Manager. A. POPE, (Jeneral Passenger and Ticket Agent. 

(157} 



New York and New England R. B. 

wBMmAL oif Hi All f owm 

Boston, New London, Rockville, Danbury, 

Providence, Springfield, S. Manchester, Brewsters, 

Worcester, Hartford, New Britain, Fishkil], 

Norwich, Willimantic, Waterbury, 

And Newburg on the Hudson. 

WITH CONNECTIONS FOR 

mm mmf rpmitljilin^ 

And the SOUTH and ^VEST. 

NORWICH lTnE 



BETWEEN 



BOSTON and NEW YORK, 

Elepnl Fleet of Steamers, amens ttiem tlie New aiM MaplUcleut Steamer 



^^C$tT 0r w^Mcm^t^u*^^ 



THE FINEST ON THE LONG ISLAND SOUND. 



SosTON AND Philadelphia 

EXPRESS LINE. 

BUNNISG MAGNIFICENT PULL3IAN PALACM CABS, 

^WITHOUT CH.A.ISrGE, 

BETWEEN BOSTON, PHI LADELPHIA, BALTIM ORE, AND WASHINGTON. 

A. C. KENDALL, S. M. FELTON, Jr., 

General Pasaenijer Agent. General Manager. 



HARPER & BROS TOURIST'S BOOKS. 



Drake's Heart of the White Mountains. The Heart of the White Mountains. 
By Samuel Adams Drake, Author of " Nooks and Corners of the New England 
Coast." Illustrated by W. Hamilton Gibson, Author of " Pastoral Days." 4to, 
Illuminated Cloth, Gilt Edges, ^7.50. Tourist's Edition, ^^3.00. 

" No doubt the season will produce its regular crop of illustrated holiday gift books, but we risk little in 
saying that Mr. W. Hamilton Gibson's elegant volume, ' The Heart of the White Mountains, their Legend and 
Scenery ' will remain the chosen favorite of people of good taste and artistic culture. It is printed in quarto 
form, and the illustrations, all from the pencil of Mr. Gibson, are beautiful in design and exquisite in execution. 
The letter press is by Mr. Samuel Adams Drake, and is quite worthy of the artistic part of the work. It is a 
superb production." — The Sun, New York. 

"'The Heart of the White Mountains' is one of those splendid drawing-room table books which have 
been printed in this country only of comparatively late years. * * * This volume before us belongs to the 
finest class of landscape pictorials ; the illustrations are little miracles of wood engraving, rendering every effect 
of sunlight or sunset, moonlight or gloaming, clear or foggy distances with witching illusion; there is no color, 
vet the feeling of the artist creates suggestions of exquisite blue and green tints. The style of the text is no 
doubt familiar to the readers of Harper's Monthly, in the pages of which both engravings and narrative first 
appeared. It is breezy, gossipy, instructive, and often delightfully humorous. — New Orleans Democrat. 

'"The Heart of the White Mountains: their Legend and Scenery,' by Samuel Adams Drake, willi 
illustrations by W. Hamilton Gibson, is one of the very few books of the year which are truly superb. As an 
illustration of the resources of a great American publishing house, this volume from Harper & Brothers is a 
matter of national pride and congratulation. It is not a merely ornamental work, lavishly adorned with tine 
engravings, rich binding, and other luxurious features. Its exterior is chastely elegant, not so much adorned as 
to destroy its character as a cover for the treasures within. * * * All but a very few of the designs are by 
Mr. Gibson, and this is enough to indicate their style and quality. Their engraving, and printing are such a^ 
have commanded the admiration of the lovers of art in all parts of the world."— iVk-w York Observer. 

" The Heart of the White Mountains : their Legend and Scenery. A very attractive and interesting 
book has Mr. Drake made out of his subject. The illustrations are excellent, — vigorous sketches, reproduced 
with that delicacy of execution in which the American engravers are unsurpassed." — London Spectator. 

" This is not a dry book of travel. The weaving of incidents and legends of various places, with the 
description of their scenery makes this book peculiarly valuable, and seems to be a gift peculiar to Mr. Drake; 
not that his manner of describing these places is dull, far from it, for his vivid and almost poetical portrayals, 
together with the fine accompanying engravings, almost place one on the spot. He divides his book in three 
sections, each being the recital of a journey to the White Mountains." — Richmond Christian Advocate. 

" ' The Heart of the White Mountains,' with Drake's text and Gibson's pictures, is admired in England ; 
the Spectator, after explaining to its readers where the White Mountains are, calls the book ' very attractive and 
interesting,' and praises the illustratidns — ' vigorous sketches, reproduced with that delicacy of execution in 
which the American engravers are unsurpassed.' " — Sp?-ingfeld Republican. 

Nordhofif's California. Cloth, ^^i.so. 

" Most of those who know anything of California are largely indebted to Mr. Nordhoff for their informa- 
tion. The record of his visit to the Pacific coast, some years since, was one of the most complete and reliable 
books that we have had on the character and resources of the state." — N. Y. Obset-ver 

" People who want to know all about California will find a mine of satisfaction in the new and enlarged 
edition of Charles Nordhofif's California, for Health, Pleasure, and Residence. It has not a dull hne in it, and 
gives a new idea of the resources and attractions of that state." — Christian at Work, N. Y. 

" Harper & Brothers have issued a new and thoroughly revised edition of Charles Nordhofif's ' California 
for Health, Pleasure, and Residence;' the only thoroughly readable book on the subject that has* yet made its 
appearance. It is designed for the use of both settlers and travellers, and therefore contains detailed informa- 
tion about the culture of the grape, the raisin, the orange, the lemon, the olive, and other semi-tropical fruits, 
about the methods of irrigation, the best places for colony settlements, etc." — New York Graphic. 

" A better guide to the industries, pleasure resorts, and curiosities of the golden state, cannot be well 
imagined than this book on California by Mr. Nordhofif. He gives complete details regarding the culture of the 
vine and raisin grape, the orange, lemon, olive, and other semi-tropical fruits, colony settlements, tourists' routes, 
resorts for invalids, etc., etc. In short, the volume is a perfect encyclopaedia of everything that is worth 
knowing about California, and by its aid one can travel in imagination through a country prolific in natural 
curiosities and interesting developments." — Albany Sunday Press. 



Harper & Brothers will send the above books by mail, postage prepaid, to 
any part of the United States, on receipt of the price. 

C159) 



R. J. BAKER. 



Established 1837 



R. J. HOLLINGSWORTH. 



R J. BAKER & CO., 

Warehouses, 36 S. Charles Street, Factory, Locust Point, Baltimore. 

MANUFACTURERS AND DEALERS IN 

FERTILIZING MATERIALS. 

First House in Baltimore that furnished facilities for obtaining either the Unmixed Chemicals or the 

Compounding of iSpecial Formulas. 



Manufacturers and dealers in Ground Bones, Pure Dissolved Raw Bones, Pure Dissolved Bone Ash, Pure 
Dissolved Bone Black, Pure Dissolved S. C. Bone Phosphate, Pure Dissolved Sui)er-Phosphate of Lime, Acid 
Phosphate, Sta^ iSuper-Pliospliate, Ammoniated Super-Pliospliate, Pure Fine Ground 
Bones, Pure Bone Meal, Ammoniated Matter, Ammoniated Ground Bone. All of which they sell under the 
name or Trade-Mark of K. J. Baker & Co., which Trade-Mark is stamped upon all sacks containing any and 
all materials of their manufacture. On account of the superior and valuable qualities of their materials they 
have become favorites with farmers and dealers. 

There are but few manufacturers and dealers in Fertilizers and Chemicals more widely and favorably 
known than R. J. Baker & Co. The great specialty of these manufacturers are Pure Dissolved Eaw Bone, 
Pure Dissolved Bone Ash, and Pure Dissolved South Carolina Phosphate. The Pure Bone is specially ground 
to order, and a careful analysis of it is constantly made for the purpose of maintaining the purity and standard 
of the article. 

A great advantage is afforded to the farmer by this house, one they could not have by dealing with any 
other house in the city. The farmer can make up a formula to accomplish a special purj)ose, or to benefit a 
certain crop, and by sending it to them can have it promptly, caiefully, and faithfully prepared or com- 
pounded, strictly in accordance with the formula. 

E. J. Baker & Co. are importers and dealers in Dye Drugs, 66° Oil of Vitriol, Ground Sulphate of Soda, 
Nitrate of Soda, Nitrate of Potash, Sulphate of Potash, Sulphate of Ammonia, Ground Plaster, Pure Fine 
Ground Bone and Bone Meal containing 52.77 per cent. Phosphate of Lime and 4.71 per cent, of Ammonia, 
and keep on hand all chemicals for making Fertilizers. Factory at Locust Point, Baltimore, Md. 



YOU CAN KEEP COOL ON THE CATSKILLS 




Thermoineter 75 to 20 Degrees loiuer than i7i Aew 
York or Philadelphia. 

BUY VAN LOAN'S ELEGANT 

CATSKILL MOUNTAIN GUIDE, 

WITH ITS 

Birds-Eye View, Maps, Panoramic Pictures, and 

its Accurate Illustrations and Scenes 

among the Mountains, 

ALSO 

Full Description of Seventy-Six Hotels and Boarding 
Houses, their location, distance from River and Railroad, 
Prices of Board and Attractions as a .Summer Resort. Be 
sure that you go to the Catskills, after securing a Copy of 
\'an Loan's Guide and posting- yourself as to where to go, 
and how to get there. 

Price, only 40 cents. Get it at Brentano's, or it will be 
mailed, postage paid, on receipt of 40 cents in currency, 
coin, or postage stamps, by addressing 

WALTON VAN LOAN, 

Catskill, Green Co., JV. I^. 



(160) 



D. O. CRANE^ 

y^ ttorney-at-L^aw & O olicitor ofiatents, 

ST. CLOUD BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



PATENTS, CAVEATS, DESIGN PATENTS, TRADE MARKS, COPYRIGHTS, 

RE-ISSUES, Etc., SECURED. 



NO FEE UNLESS SUCCESSFUL. 

CORRESPONDENCE SOLICITED, PROMPT REPLIES ASSURED. 

HALIFAX EXCURSIONS 

BY 

Allaia Lie© Moyal Mail SiteamsMp 

DEPARTURES FROM BALTIMORE EVERY FORTNIGHT. 
A DELIGHTFUL DEVIATION FI^OM THE USUAL SUMMER TOURS. 



Passengers leave Baltimore at g A.M., so that the trip down the beautiful Chesapeake 
Bay is made in the daytime, and after a short, invigorating ocean voyage of three days, 
aboard a first-class TRANSATLANTIC Steamship, are landed at Halifax, whence 
excursions may be made to pleasant points of transient or permanent resort in the interior 
or along the coast, and the cJiarming climate of a Nova Scotian summer enjoyed in all its 
loveliness. v 

The city of HALIFAX, with its garrison, splendid harbor, naval fleets, drives, sailing, 
fishing, etc., presents many points of interest to the summer tourist. 



iifis if iiiif=oMee imm Misiii. 



Baltimore to St. Johns, N. F., $35 
Baltimore to Liverpool, . . 75 



Baltimore to Halifax, . . $20 
Round Trip (good for 6 months), ' 35 
For particulars, apply to 

A. SCHUMACKER ^ CO., General Agents, 

S South Gay Street, Baltimore, Md 

(x6i) 





HP^RE shall we go this Summer?" A question always asked, but hard to 
answer. The hills, the mountains, the farm, the beach, and a thousand 
places stare one in the face like so many enigmas, each claiming its particular 
advantage, and each like the guides of Rome calling " I am the best." To choose out 
of so varied a collection is well-nigh impossible, and he who at last settles upon one 
location in which to breathe the pure air and "drive dull care away," will e'rehis second 
day read of some other resort which seems to rival the place of his first choice. Many 
a man in trying to decide where to go has found himself like the donkey between 
several loads of hay, who, though dreadfully hungry, starved to death because he could 
not make up his mind which load was the sweetest to the palate. 

Listen, and we will whisper in your ear a way to spend vacation which shall be a 
combination of everything and everywhere. 

A bicycle tramp ! a grand-free-and-easy-go-as-you-please-don't-care-for-anybody- 
jolly-happy-see-everything-ride from home to anywhere and back again. No horse to 
feed, no stable bills to pay, no weary tramp, no stay-and-get-tired-in-one-place-vaca- 
tion. Alone if you will, in company is better, for the jolliest, healthiest, grandest, old 
time. And leave your ladies at home? Certainly not. They need the change as 
well as you. You on your bicycle, they on the tricycle, in a general wheel over hill 
and valley, out in the open air, full of life and spirits, getting health and strength, and 
having the best of holidays. A picnic in the woods every pleasant day, a halt for 
fishing in the brooks or the ocean. 

What does it cost? Well, your locomotion costs nothing, your lodging a dollar 
or more a night, your meals what it costs you at home, unless you want to be 
extravagant. 
(162) 




Nothing is lost to the " wheelman," the nooks and 
corners of nature's best scenery are spread out before 
him. He sees everything", for he is where everything is. 

What an appetite you will have ; three big meals a 
day, and an occasional halt for milk and country ginger- 
bread. You will leave your " steeds " untied in the road 
and take the most delightful strolls into the woods and 
over the meadows; you will sit in the cool shade of the 
trees beside the sparkling cascade ; you will drink the 
cold waters of the mountain spring ; you live as the 
birds, they with wings, you with wheels. A stop-over 
when you please, a day or a week, where you find a 
spot which will repay a larger inspection. Rest where 
you will, travel where you wish, and traveling will rest 
you, for you need the exercise. 

Ah, what pleasant evenings in the kitchens of old- 
fashioned farm-houses, listening to the tales of bygone 
days ; or in the parlors of the fashionable hotel, the 
envy of all the guests. And then to come home and 
back to business, flesh all aglow, blood bounding, head clear, stomach clamorous, and 
to sleep as you did in childhood. Dyspepsia cured if you had it, weak limbs made 
strong, in fact the same man renovated and repaired. 

But where shall we get a machine ? Why haven't you seen the " man on a 
wheel," which has been a " landmark " in every paper, pointing the reader to the 
pioneer bicycle house of America, THE POPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY 
of Boston, Mass., the makers of the celebrated COLUMBIA BICYCLES and 
TRICYCLES, the machines which have stood the test of years of wheeling over bad 
roads and good, by boys, men, ladies, and experts, until " Uncle Sam" has again stood 
upon the Capitol, waved his hat and shouted as he did over our successes in watch, 
piano, and sewing machine making, " America's Ahead." If you live near their 
headquarters at 597 Washington Street, Boston, step in and see the Perfect Machine. 
If you do not, nor near one of their hundreds of agencies, then send a 3 cent stamp 
and receive an Illustrated Catalogue, which will tell you in print all about these 
wonderful machines. 

Good as were the Standard and Expert Columbias, the improvements of this 
year have made these " perfect machines more perfect." 

The addition of the Columbia Tricycle to their " herd of steeds," gives the 
" missing link," which has separated husband and wife. To-day one can find in their 
warerooms "wheels" for the whole family; father, mother, boy, and girl, and even 
grandfather can ride the new tricycle. 

Tell us not in mournful numbers, 

Life is but a bitter dream ; 
tur I've wakened from my slumbers, 

And I feel so cheap and mean. 
Life is real, life is earnest; 

Life is as we do and feel, 
Happy is the life that's furnished 

Every rider of the " wheel." 

(163) 






iprmgs. 



THIS WELL-KNOWN WATERING-PLACE, 

.Situated in Bote.tourt County, Virginia, on the line of, and in full view of the Norfolk & Western Railroad 
(only about five miles from the growing City of Roanoke), is 

OPEN FOR THE RECEPTION OF VISITORS. 

Since the last season New Porches liave been erected to the Hotel, and the Cottages put in thorough 
repair. 

Persons leaving Baltimore, Washington, Richmond, Norfolk, and Petersburg, will arrive the 
same evening at the Springs; those coming from the South and West reach the Springs in about six hours 
from Bristol. . 

Visitors desiring to stop, by informing the conductor when they strike the Norfolk & Western Railroad 
of the fact, will be landed at the platform immediately opposite to the springs. 

NO STAGING. 

The Hotel being about two hundred yards from tlie platform makes it a \'ERY DESIRABLE REST- 
ING-PLACE for persons from the South going North or returning home. Desiring to make this place a ' 
resort for families, where thev can enjov HOME COMFORTS, no trouble nor expense will be spared to 
render it PLEASANT AND AGREEABLE TO GUESTS. 

THERE ARE FIVE SULPHUR SPRINGS, the medical qualities of which are so generally 
and favorably known that it is deemed unnecessary to speak of their virtues. 

30ARD '. Per Day, $2.00 ; per \A^eek, $10.00 ; per^ Month of 4 Weeks, 
from $25.00 to $8S.OO, according to location and accommodations. 
Fast Office, Bonsack's, Roanoke County, Virginia. WM. H. FRY, Cen'l Manager. 



Mount Washington House, 

PARK AVENUE. BETHLEHEM. N. H. 

In full view of the Muu.mt Washingtox Range. 

C. L. BARTLETT, Proprietor. 

Delightfully situated a few rods from the main street, 
near the new railroad station, and opposite the site of the 
proposed park, with the peaks of twenty-five mountains 
visible from its front piazza, while Mount Mansfield and the 
Green Mountains are observable from the back of the house. 
Light, airy rooms, single or en suite for families. Arrange- 
ments for heating the rooms of guests remaining late in the 
season. House esf)ecially desirable for sufferers from hay 
fever owing to its location. 

Farms in connection. Horses and carriages, with atten- 
tive and experienced drivers. 



NEW UNION HOTEL 

Hayth's Hotel and Western Hotel Combined. 

FIN CASTLE, VA. 



.Situated at Court House, in a village of lOOU population, 
eight miles from Jackson, on Richmond and Alleghany R. 
R., and six miles from Froutsville, on the Shenjindoah 
Valley R, R. Two double daily mails. Beautifully situated 
in a heaithful locality, 1200 feet above the level of the sea. 
Trout and Black Bass in abundance; game also plenty in the 
adjoining forest Every attraction for invalids and pleasure- 
seekers. Several good mineral springs near at hand. 

Accommodations first-class, and rates always low. 

For terms and full particulars, address, 

WM. B. HAYTH, Proprietor, 

FISCASTLE, VA. 




Grand Central Hotel, 

BAR HARBOR, ME. 



This favorably located Hotel, at the great 
summer resort of the country. Is first- 
class in all its appointments. Write for 
pamphlets and circulars to 

R. HAMOR & SONS, 
Mt. Desert Islttnd, Bar Harbor, Me. 



(164) 




Sttuated on ^npton Roads loo yards from Fortress Monroe. Accommodations 
for J Z Quests and open all the year. Surroundings unsurpassed: apporntments table 
':JZ£:!Lcelll Boat^n^fisH^n,, and dr^.^n, spe.ally ^^^^ ^f ^^^ 
hathincr which is o-oodfrom May until November, the finest on the Atlantic seaOoara. 
r.tw;/;';W .i.....;.... ./- anyheaWi^^pUasure resort i. J. <.uiUry. 
Climate free from malaria and for inso mma truly wonderful i n its sopoiific effects. 

THE LARGEST SEA-SHORE AND MOUNTAIN RESORTS OFTH^SOUfH UNITED. 



^pvijca^ 



GREENBRIER CO.. W. VA. 

So '.Mespread ,s tlu r.putaaon of ■■ The White " U has been calkd '''''/^f ^f f ;^2 
Ameviea Situated » the famous ■• Spring region" of the Vtrgmms. on the Chesapcake 
Id Ohio Radu.ay, iMeh ..iuds through beautiful .alleys, bes.de P'^^-"""' ^^ 
giganue cUffs. and narro-. eanons. altke aceessWle from the great «'--/ f .f "Jjj 
"Uississip^ vaUeys, the Gulf region, and those along the ^antu seaboa^d^ . een^al 
position invites the patronage of widely separated seettons, and vmtor from th'jf f' 

Zth Ea.t a,rd West eome hither to enjoy the benefit of Us -waters, fornung a socuty as 
J:tf .,; U ,s diversified For the ne.rt fi.e years the WMte Sf^l^P^^^;"^^ 

Cottages, and Restaurant '.ill be under the management and ""'" f '^fXZ- 

of the Hvgeia Hotel, and no effort will be spared or expense avoided to make the eom 

bination of these two great resorts a perfeet and lasting sueeess 

Pamphlets deseribing the Hygienic advantages of either ptaee u;tl bi furnished on 

application. ^ ppjOEBUS, P'op""" >»'"-•"■"■ 

(165) 





THE WINDSOR, 

Cor. Larimer M \m Sts, DENVER, COLO. 

The largest and Most Elegantly Appointed Hotel 
in the West. 

OPBNED 18H0, 

Parties visiting Denver, either for business, 
pleasure, or health, will find at T/ic ]]l}if/sflr ac- 
commodations unsurpassed. 

BUSH, TABOR & CO., 

FROPRIETORS. 



R, OLNEY, Prop. GREELEY, COLORADO. 



A new three-story brick, with modern 
improvements. Rooms tastefully furnished. 
Cuisine unsurpassed. A picturesque view 
of mountain scenery is had from the 
windows and balconies. A desirable home 
for the tourist or invalid. 
(1 66) 




PENNSYLVANIA 




Railroad. 

THE FAMOUS 

" NEW YORK and GHIGASO 
LIMITED. 



VERY DAY IN THE YEAR BETWEEN 



raElA7 YORK 
PHILADELPHIA 
BALiTIIVIORE 
l^VASHINGTON 



AND 



PITTSBURGH. 
GIItfCmnATI. 
FT. VUTAYNE. 
CHICAGO. 



THE LIMITED IS COMPOSED EXCLISI VEI.Y OF 

Drawing Room, Dining Room, Smoi<ing Room, and Sleeping Cars. 

Meals are server] in the Dining Cars 
at the uniform rate of $1.00. 



THROUGH CAR SERVICE. 

Going Westward. Going Eastward. 

One Sleeping Car Boston to Phila- Two Palace Sleeping Cars Chicago 

delpbia. to New York. 

One Parlor Car New York to Phila- Palace Sleeping Car Chicago to 



delpbia. 

Two Palace Sleeping Cars Xew 
York to Chicago. 

Palace Sleeping Car New York 
10 Ciucinnati. 



Washington. 

Palace Sleeping Car Cincinnati to 
Niw York. 

Onn Dining Car Chicago to Fort 
Wavne and Pittsburgh to New 
York. 

One Smoking Car Chicago to New 
York. 



Palace Sleeping Car Washington to 
Chicago. 

One Dining Car New York to Pitts- 
burgh and Fort Wayne to Chi- One Parlor Car Philadelphia to New 
cago. ' York. 

One Smoking Car New York to One Sleeping Car Philadelphia to 
Chicago. Boston. 




CHAS. E. PUGH, Gemral Manager. 



J. R. WOOD, Gen I Pass'r Agent 




Two vears from the "^od No Stumps to dig out No Stones to remove 

Real Estate as an Investment. 



As interest on money is so low as to bring in but little to those possessed of a 
few thousand dollars, inquiry is daily made as how best to invest in order to secure 
sure and permanent returns. Those in whom speculation is rife, seek to amass a fortune 
in a short time by dealing in delusive stocks and bonds, only to find in the end that 
their risk was an unsound one, and that their little fortune instead of doubling has 
entirely vanished. Others, more matter of fact, are seeking investments in Real Estate 
in the West, where if a fortune is not made so speedily, it is sure and certain, and a 
heritage is assured to their children. No Government has been more prodigal of her 
public lands than has ours — giving to every citizen who is desirous of obtaining it one 
hundred and sixty acres. But while she has been thus kind to individual citizens, she 
has been more than prodigal to corporations, giving to them millions upon millions of 
acres of her best lands, to be parcelled out by them to honest citizens at fabulous 
prices. Outside of lands thus granted to corporations, the public domain is fast being 
taken up by settlers, and a few years will see all our choicest lands entered. Many 
persons in the East aredesirous of securing lands, but their business will not permit 
them to go West and enter lands under the Homestead or Pre-emption laws. There is 
a species of land scrip known as " Soldier's Additional Homestead " that can be 
located on any public lands subject to homestead or pre-emption entry, requiring no 
residence or cultivation, and parties can by the use of such scrip enter public land and 
receive title to the same without leaving their business or homes, or otherwise neglect- 
ing their affairs. 

There is no limit to the amount one person can locate. It comos in forty, eighty, 
and one hundred and twenty acre pieces, and is within the reach of all possessed of a 
little means. There are but a few thousand acres of this scrip remaining unlocated, 
a majority of which I own. 

For full particulars regarding location of same, price per acre, etc., etc., address, 
. .^-^_ A. A. THOMAS, Attorney-at-Law, 

Land and Mining Patents a Specialty. St. Cloud Building, IVashington, D. C. 

(.68) C 12 88 



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